Blackberry Bun's Journal
by Blackberry Bun
Summary: Blackberry Bun was not seen in any Strawberry Shortcake episodes, but he was there almost all the time. In his journal here he tells things which happened in Strawberryland without many people knowing. The fan fiction is based on year 2003 version of Strawberry Shortcake TV show. As a note, the chapters will be more understandable if you have watched the referenced episode.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Growing Better All The Time

It was a sunny day when I was sitting in front of my desk, finishing my invention. Sometimes I could hear distant cheerings of children outside, and whenever it happened, I felt something strange. Something that made me feel like joining them.

"Is this what they call as lonely...?" I wondered.

But I couldn't go. I was afraid that they would call me a weirdo. Who wouldn't call a boy who wears dark outfit even though it's sunny outside, wears thick glasses, and prefers secluding himself to make devices a weirdo?

I continued my work until I finally finished the device. A foldable pocket-sized radar-shaped device which is capable of driving birds away from an area around it.

"Now let's test it," I said, folding the device and putting it in my pocket.

I walked out of my house, which was a tree house perfectly hidden by the leaves, walked past Blackberry Bushes, through the Huckleberry Briar, and finally I was in the outfield. I then noticed a group of children coming from the front. I was scared and didn't want to meet them, so I quickly went hiding behind a nearby bush. I looked around and saw five kids, four girls and one boy to be exact, running by. I decided to follow them quietly, but I ended up losing their track. Getting tired, I sat down under a tree to take some rest, only to fall asleep a few minutes later.

I didn't know how long I was asleep. When I woke up, I walked some more to find any suitable place to test the device. Not long after, I noticed the same kids coming from the other way, so I hid myself again. While they were passing by, I noticed them carrying gardening equipments, and a little bit dirty with dirt covering their clothes. Seeing those gave me a hunch that I've got an opportunity to test my device.

I walked to the way they came from, and ended up seeing an area of land which has been plowed and marked with flower signs. Just as I had thought, they intended to make a garden there. I picked the device from my pocket, put it in the middle of the area, and turned it on.

"Now birds won't come eating the seeds," I thought. "Time to go home and let nature takes care of itself,"

A few days later, I went to the area to check the progress. I arrived there quite early in the morning, only to see the area devastated by a legion of crows.

"What's wrong with the device? I made it to drive birds away, not to attract crows!" I wondered, rushing into the legion to find the device and turn it off.

After I had turned the device off, all the crows went away. But I was sure that some of them would return. I looked around, seeing an area that was ruined because of my own fault for not testing it in my place first.

"If the kids find out that this is all my fault, they all will hate me for sure," I thought, leaving the place quickly.

At home I took a look at the device and discovered that I really had made a mistake in the making. As the result, the device worked the opposite way of what it was supposed to be. It took some hours but I managed to fix the problem. Then I took a different device from my shelf and left home carrying the two devices.

I walked to the area once again to drive the rest of the crows away from the field so I could use the other device. However, when I arrived there I saw the five kids driving away the crows using scarecrows modeled like themselves.

"Old fashioned way. Simple but effective," I thought, feeling relieved that they themselves had solved the problem I have caused. "There's no need to use Scarecrow then. I'll just use Nature's Blessing from here without their knowing,"

I then put the other device on the ground and turned it on. The small sphere on top of the device glowed a green aura and made all seeds on the area grow before the kids' eyes. I could hear the girl in strawberry hat happily shouting "Great galloping gooseberries!"

I left the place, feeling sure that someday I would be friends with them. But not for then since I was still not confident about it.

-End of Chapter 1-

Referenced episode: "Growing Better All The Time" (A short episode featured in one Care Bears DVD)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Paradox

I have invented another device. This time I made a remote capable of sending someone through time, although only to the past. This device I had named as Time Remote had number buttons, a red button, a green button, and a purple button. I pressed some number buttons followed by the green button, and there was a blinding light covering me.

When I regained vision, I was in the middle of a storm at night. It was raining hard and lightnings struck loudly. I quickly took a capsule-shaped device from my pocket, threw it upwards, and it exploded creating a light dome which protected me from the rain.

"This should do it," I thought, when I heard a sound of a dog howling, followed by a familiar shout.

"Great galloping gooseberries!" I heard the shout. I recognized it as the same voice the girl in strawberry hat has. I wanted to go to the source of the voice but the light dome was static. It was not made to be able to move.

"Remind me to make it mobile next time," I spoke to myself, which sounded silly.

The Time Remote needed to recharge its energy, so I had no other choice but to spend the night right at the place I was standing. I fell asleep quite easily there anyway.

At the next day I woke up, the storm was no more. The sun was shining brightly and the light dome has reverted back into a capsule, which I then put into my pocket. However, the Time Remote still needed some time to absorb sunlight to recharge its energy so I decided to walk around.

"So this is one month ago? Not so different of course," I thought, walking towards the source of the voice I had heard. I found a strawberry-shaped house, which was obviously the strawberry girl's house in my thinking.

I continued walking around without approaching the house because I had to keep myself from causing a time paradox, so I had to avoid meeting any people there.

After some walking, I checked the Time Remote and saw that it was ready to use. I pressed the red button to take me home, and a blinding light covered me.

When I regained vision, I once again was in the middle of a storm at night. But this time I was in a forest. The light dome capsule was still unusable so I had to look for a shelter. Gladly I found a hollow tree so I entered its hole and sat inside.

"Next time I should bring more than just one Paraplu," I spoke to myself, which again, sounded silly. "Now I wonder why the red button didn't bring me home. Did I make a mistake in the making again?"

While waiting, I heard sounds of kids shouting. The sounds seemed like the kids were calling names. I tried to focus my hearing so I could hear them more clearly.

"Custard... and... Pupcake...?" I thought.

I wanted to go out and see what was happening, but I couldn't stand the rain so I kept sitting inside the hollow tree and fell asleep there due to the side effect of time-travelling.

When I woke up, it was already in the middle of the day. The Time Remote was ready to use again, but seeing what happened before, I doubted it. That meant I had to use the overcharge button. I actually didn't want to use it since the massive amount of energy from it might cause bad thing to happen there.

"I had no other choice..." I thought, pressing the red and purple button at the same time. Once again, a blinding light covered me.

When I realized it, I was already home at the correct time. I carefully put the Time Remote, which was then full of electricity waves around it, on a table. I was hoping that the overcharge button didn't cause any significant trouble to the past.

I was still worried though, so I started making a device capable of seeing through time and everything related to the Time Remote. Still, I could only hope I wouldn't see something bad from it.

-End of Chapter 2-

Referenced episode: "Here Comes Pupcake", the first episode of "Best Pets Yet" DVD


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Telekinator

I have finished making the device capable of seeing through time, which I named as Time Monitor. I turned it on and observed what the Time Remote's overcharge button had caused. Then I saw that it had re-written the memory of all Strawberryland residents. It had made them lost their memories of their human friends so they only knew that they had been living only with their pets. However, I also saw that two weeks after, they re-introduced each other so I didn't need to go back to the timeline to fix things. As if I could fix anything, anyway.

A few days later, I finished another device. This one was capable of moving objects without touching the object. Since the ability was similar to what people named as telekinesis, I named the device as Telekinator.

"Time to test it," I thought, walking out of my house.

I tried using the Telekinator on a small stone, and it worked fine. Then I tested it on a larger rock, and it still worked fine. I tried it on another rock, which was big and heavy, but this time it didn't work. I tried lifting the rock while the Telekinator was still used on it, and I could lift it quite easily. Then I came to a conclusion that the Telekinator had a weight limit on the target object. If the target was heavier than the weight limit, the Telekinator would only lighten the target's weight by its limit.

Having nothing to do for the rest of the day, I tried going to the center of Strawberryland. I thought that maybe I would get to become friend with those kids. I was still inconfident but I had to try or else nothing would get done.

I walked around and finally found them gathering together with a talking horse. I only watched them from afar since I got struck by inconfidence. I couldn't hear anything they were talking about, but I saw the girl in fuschia jacket suddenly had a globe on her hands, and the globe disappeared soon after.

"Now I wonder how she did that. Foldable globe?" I wondered. I saw them leaving and I followed them slowly.

They arrived in front of an old bridge that seemed ready to collapse anytime soon. My thought was further strengthened, seeing that a slight touch by the fuschia girl made one board cracked and fell down. However, I saw the strawberry girl walking towards the bridge.

"The bridge won't hold," I thought, quickly taking the Telekinator from my pocket and used it on her while hiding behind a bush. The Telekinator lightened her so the bridge still managed to sustain the weight. Other kids followed her and I did the same to each of them. However, when the talking horse took the turn, the Telekinator couldn't lighten her enough that the bridge cracked. I was quite worried, but the kids managed to save her. After they left, I followed them slowly once again.

I stopped following after I saw them crossing a sea with a raft. There was no way I could follow them, so I decided to go back home. However, after crossing the old bridge again, I remembered that I needed to lighten them when they come back, so I rested behind a bush and waited.

Quite a while after, i finally saw them coming back, but without the horse. I wondered but there was no time to wonder because this time they attempted to cross the bridge together. That meant the Telekinator's power would be divided among them. I could only hope the bridge would still hold.

When they were halfway through the bridge, there was a large tree brought by the river's current, charging fast towards them. I knew that I had to stop the tree or else the kids would be crushed, so I quickly used the Telekinator on the tree and pressed the overcharge button, which I almost always made on all my devices. The tree slowed down a bit, but it still crashed to the bridge. Amplified by the fact that the kids were no longer lightened, the crash made the part of the bridge where the kids were standing fell down. All of them were still standing on the fallen part while the river's current brought them away.

I didn't know what would happen to them next, but I was sure that if I let the tree go, the kids would surely be in a worse trouble. I held the tree in its place, ignoring the fact that the Telekinator started to overheat and burned my hands. I tried to endure the pain, but in the end the Telekinator itself couldn't endure the overcharge. It finally malfunctioned with severe overheat, which caused serious burn damage on my hands. However, I was more worried on the kids so I ran downstream as fast as I could, only to see them saved by the talking horse just in time. I was relieved and wanted to approach them, but I had to go home and take care of my wound first.

While walking home, I suddenly realized what a fool I had been. I could just use the overcharge button on the kids to save them immediately. But what was done was already done, and I kept walking home with pain on my hands...

-End of chapter 3-

Referenced episode: "Horses of Different Color", the first episode of "Adventures on Ice Cream Island" DVD


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Friendship Grows...?

I walked home with pain in my hands. The pain was so great that I often felt dizzy and weak. The only thing that kept me walking was the joy from knowing that the wound I got was from saving the lives of the kids someday I would befriend. It kinda felt like a battle scar for warriors.

I slowly walked through the whole Strawberryland, passed the Huckleberry Briar and Blackberry Bushes, until I finally arrived at my home. As I pressed the hidden button that unhid the ladder into my home, I realized that getting into my home would be so difficult because of this wound. I attempted it anyway, because there are no other way to get into my home.

I put my grip on the ladder, and quickly released it because it gave me even greater pain. After many failed attempts of putting my grip on the ladder, I realized that I was stuck outside my home, and I started to regret my home being a tree house with a ladder instead of stairs like that orange-shaped tree house.

Knowing that I got stuck outside, I had no choice other than looking for help. I slowly walked through Blackberry Bushes, but in the middle of Huckleberry Briar I once again felt dizzy and weak. This time I couldn't endure it and finally fainted.

I didn't know how long I have been unconcious, but when I woke up I was on a comfortable bed. Someone had wrapped the wounds on my hands with bandage. I looked around, still sitting on the bed, and I heard a voice.

"Finally awake? Good morning. You have slept for a whole night," said that voice. Then someone whom I recognized as one of the five kids, the only male one to be exact, came to me.

"Umm... Yes..." I replied.

"Haven't seen you before. What's your name?" He asked.

"...Blackberry Bun..." I replied.

"Welcome to my fort, Blackberry Bun. I'm Huckleberry Pie, but you can call me Huck for short," He said. "Yesterday, while I was looking for some huckleberries I found you unconcious. I brought you here and took care of your hands,"

After saying his sentence, he walked away and soon came back bringing a plate of berries.

"Here, have some," he offered. I took one and ate it. It tasted good, like the blackberries I have been having. "By the way, how come your hands got wounded so bad?"

"...Overheated invention..." I answered.

"Invention? Are you an inventor like Ginger Snap?" He asked curiously, which gave me the answer that the girl in fuschia jacket was named Ginger Snap and was also an inventor.

"Yes..." I answered.

"Cool! May I visit your house someday?" He asked.

"We can do that right now," I replied.

"But your hands...?" He wondered.

"One of my inventions is a device which can heal wounds. The sooner I get there, the better," I replied, which made me wonder how I could say those words without hesitation.

So both of us walked through Blackberry Bushes until we arrived in front of a large tree where my house was hidden. The ladder was still unhid because I forgot to press the button once again to hide it. This time the pain was not as bad as before so I could climb into my house, although still a bit difficult.

Inside my house, I went towards the "Successful Invention" shelf while Huck was looking around. I took a metal sphere from the shelf, put it on the table at the center of the house, and turned it on. The sphere radiated blue aura and I put my hands on it. A moment later, the blue aura faded away. I opened the bandage on my hands and saw that my hands have been healed. Better yet, it seemed like the wounds had never been there before. Huck witnessed all that happened and was astonished.

"Glad that I have made this Phoenix Tear," I said. "Too bad it can only be used once a week."

I took the device and went to put it back in the shelf. As I was doing that, Huck asked me, "What is this?" with his hand going to touch the broken Time Remote.

"NO! DON'T!" I shouted, but it was too late. He got zapped by the aftermath of the Time Remote. I then regretted forgetting to put it into the "Danger! Do not touch!" shelf right after my time travel.

"Whoa! What was that?" He asked.

"Umm, something for playing pranks," I lied.

Some hours later, Huck went home. I carefully put Time Remote's aftermath into the place it should be, and checked the Time Monitor. I saw that the Time Remote would mess his memory up and...

"In five minutes he will forget about me and everything that happened here?!" I shouted.

Well, what was done was done. I turned the Time Monitor off with a deep sigh...

-End of Chapter 4-

Referenced episode: None


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Friendship Grows Once Again

I turned off the Time Monitor with a sigh, knowing that the accident caused by my carelessnes had made my very first friend forgot everything about me. I then carefully put the post-overcharge Time Remote to the place where it belongs, "Danger, do not touch!" shelf. If only I had done this sooner, this accident would not have happened. But what was done was done, I had to start the friendship all over again.

It was already late-afternoon. The sun was setting, I had nothing to do at the moment, and no idea for a new invention. So I went towards "Unfinished Work" shelf, picked up an unfinished device, put it on my working table, and I started trying to finish the unfinished.

However, even after an hour, no progress was made at all. My mind always got off somewhere. So I just went to bed and slept, leaving the unfinished stay unfinished.

At the next day, I decided to walk around Strawberryland. "Who knows, I might be able to make friends for real this time," I thought. So I went out of my house, through all the trip until I was in the outfield again.

I went to the orange-shaped tree house, but no one was there. Then I tried the cake-shaped house, but there was nobody there as well. So was the same with the cookie house and the strawberry house. I wondered where everyone were at the moment, and kept going until I arrived in front of Huck's fort, which I didn't visit earlier.

"Watch out!" came a voice, which made me look behind. I saw Huck on his skateboard, which was speeding uncontrollably towards me. He tried to evade me and succeeded, in exchange of him crashing his fort's wall.

"Are you okay?" I asked. Then he stood up, looking unharmed.

"Yeah I guess," he replied. "Glad I had my helmet on," he continued. In my mind I agreed with him. His head collided with the wall. It could have been much worse if he didn't wear a helmet.

"Hmm... have we ever met before?" he asked. That made clear to me that the energy had really erased his memory about me.

"Practically yes, but can also be a no," I answered, which made him look confused.

"Anyway, I'm Huckleberry Pie, but you can call me Huck. What's your name?" He asked.

"Blackberry Bun," I replied. "Do you know where everybody else are?"

"Well, yesterday I found a letter in front of my fort saying that Strawberry Shortcake, Angel Cake, Orange Blossom, and Ginger Snap were going to have a festival of the fillies on Ice Cream Island. They wanted to take me along but I was not home. Strange, I don't remember why I wasn't home," He answered. Of course I knew why.

"Anyway, I have nothing to do at the moment. Do you mind if I come to your house?" He asked.

"You're always welcome," I replied, wondering why this time I didn't get struck by inconfidence like it usually used to be.

So both of us went to my house. When Huck got inside he looked around, seemed wondering about something.

"Have I been here before? This place look familiar," he said.

"Well, actually yes. But it's quite a long story," I replied, which made him look confused again. So I decided to tell him the events that happened yesterday.

After I finished telling him, he said, "So my memory about you got erased?" and scratched his head. I nodded.

"Well, I think... it makes sense," he said.

"It's up to you to believe it or not," I said with a pessimistic feeling.

"Of course I belive you. Friends trust each other," he said with his hands on my shoulders, and that made me relieved.

"By the way, what is that?" He asked while pointing to the unfinished work on my table.

"An unfinished work," I replied

"Why is it unfinished?"

"Because my mind always got off somewhere. It might be caused by my regret yesterday."

"But now I'm here to support you. Friends support each other."

I was convinced by his words and decided to start finishing the work. It took quite a while until it was finally finished when the sky was already dark. The end-result was a monitor with similar shape to the Time Monitor but with more buttons, and a small satellite.

"Finished!" I said with satisfaction.

"Great! So what does this device do?" He asked.

"With Eagle Eye we can see what's going on in any places," I replied while throwing the satellite out of a window. The satellite then flew away. "I now want to use this to see what everybody else is doing," I continued.

Through the monitor I controlled the satellite to fly to Ice Cream Island. When the satellite arrived, we could see some tents set up by our friends, but there was nobody around or inside any of the tents. I then controlled the satellite to look for them, but the size of the island was pretty big, so we couldn't find them.

"It's already over bedtime. Where could they be?" Huck asked.

"I wonder the same... Wait! What's that?" I said, noticing something. It was a boat docked in a pier, and there was a large cage on it. Inside the cage there were some horses, and I could recognize one of them as the horse who was their friend. There was also a man in tall hat and long black coat standing near them.

"It's Honey Pie Pony! Why is she in that cage?" Huck said.

"I'm not sure, but that man probably kidnapped all the horses," I said.

"Can't you do something?" he asked in panic. I shook my head.

"The satellite is only for watching. There's nothing we can do from here... Hey look over there!" I said, noticing another thing. From the land, all of the girls we knew came riding horses. They rushed towards the boat, but the boat had already started to set sail.

"Come on! Faster!" Huck said, even though both of us knew that his voice wouldn't be heard. Soon, we saw that somehow the caged horses somehow managed to open the cage door, and they all jumped off from the boat, landing on the ground of the island. The man was furious, but he couldn't turn the boat back, so he screamed that he would be back someday. Meanwhile, back at the land, we could see the horses reuniting with our friends.

"Phew, glad it ended well," He said, looking relieved. "For a short moment I felt upset because we could see what's happening but we couldn't do anything to help them"

"Me too," I replied, calling back the satellite, which soon entered through the window and landed gently on my table.

"Well, time to go home I think. It's already over bed time," he said. "And I can't wait to tell everyone that there's a new friend here."

"Thanks," I replied.

That night, I went to sleep in joy that I have succeeded for real, in making a friend.

-End of Chapter 5-

Referenced episode: Festival of The Fillies, the second episode of "Adventures on Ice Cream Island" DVD.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Precious

Three days have passed since the day I successfully made a friend. In those three days I started to go outdoor more often although I still didn't get close to the ones other than Huck. I did manage to introduce myself to them but that was all. At least I got to know the name of each girl. Strawberry Shortcake, Ginger Snap, Orange Blossom, and Angel Cake.

However, in this day I was not as happy as three days before. Somehow, somewhere, and somewhen I dropped my precious item I usually carry with me in my pocket. The item itself was just a regular device which I could make again myself, but what made it precious was the thing inside the item, which was not replaceable.

The last time I remember still having it was the day before in the morning. I remembered carrying it when going outside. But then the problem was, on that day I went everywhere around Strawberryland, and that meant I had a large area to search.

I started from the closest one, Huck's fort. But there was nobody there. Then I went to other houses one by one, but like before, there was nobody in any of the houses. I continued searching to the outfield, under a tree where I used that item for some while. But I didn't find the item there. I gave up searching outdoors and hoped one of my friends found it and kept it with them. I walked home and then near Huck's fort, I saw him doing something to his pet frog.

"He put a coat and a hat on his frog...?" I thought. I felt funny seeing a frog wearing coat and hat. I wanted to ask him what is he doing but he already left the place as I was going to approach. I was too tired after the search so I decided to go home and watch them using Eagle Eye.

At home I immediately took Eagle Eye out of the Successful Inventions shelf, put the monitor on my table, threw the satellite out of the window, and began watching. I saw the five kids with their decorated pets and a trophy.

"They are making a pet show. Too bad I don't have a pet," I thought.

Then, I saw a girl I have never seen before. A girl in red clothes and white pants. It looked like she told the five kids something and then her pet, which was a chameleon, began singing a song.

"Since when a chameleon can sing... and from where does background music come out...?" I wondered, which gave me a hunch.

Later all the kids went back to their home. I decided to order the satellite to follow the girl I didn't know yet. I wanted to know more about her, and that resulted to me knowing a fact that she indeed actually cheated with a walkman. However, what made me surprised was that the walkman was the item I had lost. The walkman I made myself which has the ability to produce high quality sound no matter how bad the tape was and no matter what medium was used as the speaker.

"I have to get it soon," I thought, calling the satellite back.

After I put the Eagle Eye back to the shelf, I walked out of my house. I wanted to go as fast as possible but I was still too tired after walking all around Strawberryland so I couldn't walk at the usual pace. I then decided to rest a bit under a tree, and afterwards I walked again until I arrived at a stage built on the outfield.

There was nobody around. The stage was quite in a mess with a hole on the back wall, oil and gum littered on the stage, and... the walkman I was looking for lying there as well. I picked it up and found out that it was almost broken. That didn't matter much to me since I could make a new one in a flash, but the tape inside was not my precious tape.

"I have to ask that girl," I said to myself.

I walked around looking for the girl until I found the five kids with their pets and five trophies.

"Five trophies? Did I miss something?" I wondered, approaching them.

"Hi, Blackberry Bun," Strawberry greeted.

"Hi," I replied. "Did I miss something here?"

"You bet. There was this pet show which turned out to be a mess because of someone cheating, but in the end we all realized that our pets are all the best and they are our berry best friend. So all of our pets get a trophy. What do you think, huh?" Ginger answered.

"Umm... yeah. And about that girl..." I said.

"You mean Peppermint Fizz?" Angel asked.

"Yes," I replied. "I want to see her. Can someone take me to her?"

"Okay, I will," Huck offered, which I accepted.

Both of us went to a place they call as Peppermint Place. In there I saw a house in a shape of a soda beverage.

"That's her house," Huck said.

We went to the front door and then I knocked it. A little while later the girl opened the door.

"Who are you, huh?" she said cynically

"I'm Blackberry Bun. I..." I said before she interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah. I suppose the others have told you my name. So what do you want here?" she asked with her hands on her hip.

"I want to ask about this," I answered, showing the walkman.

"I found that yesterday under a tree. Just take it away. It left a bad taste in my mouth," she said.

"Of course I will. This is mine. I made it myself," I said.

"So what do you want to ask then, huh?" she asked.

"I want to know where the tape that was inside is," I said.

"Oh, sorry. Forgot about that," She replied, going inside the house and came back out a while later bringing a tape which I recognized as my precious tape. "There you have it. What's so important with this anyway?"

"It has my favorite songs in it. That's all," I replied.

After that, both me and Huck left the place. On the way, he asked me.

"Was that the main reason you wanted that tape? I thought it was something more special,"

"For me this is very special," I replied while listening to the walkman with my earphone. "The songs inside were recorded from a different universe. I don't have any other copy of this and there's almost no possibility the singer will sing this again,"

I walked home, listening to my one most favorite song.

_Home is where the heart is that's what people say,_  
_Home's what makes it special when you get to go away,_  
_You can travel new horizons, you can sail to distant shores,_  
_But home is where the heart is..._

_Home is where you come from, home is who you are,_  
_Home gives you the courage to decide to journey far,_  
_And wherever the journey takes you, you'll remember all the while,_  
_That home is where the heart is..._

_See the world and all its wonders, have adventures big and small,_  
_But the greatest destination is the closest one of all,_  
_We may meet new faces see just ev'ry sight we can,_  
_But there's always something special 'bout the place it all began,_

_Home is what you come home to,_  
_Home is what you dream of,_  
_Home is where the heart is,_  
_Home is where the heart is,_  
_'Cause home is love..._

__-End of Chapter 6-

Referenced episode: Peppermint's Pet Peeve, the second episode of "Best Pets Yet" DVD.


	7. Chapter 7 Part 1

Chapter 7 Part 1: Sweet Dreams

Day by day, I became more open to everyone. I went out and play more often and I managed to establish closer friendship with everyone around Strawberryland, although Huck was still the closest of them all. Well, it couldn't be helped since his fort was the closest from my house, and he was the only boy around besides me.

One day in the afternoon, after passing through five days of sickness which I had not notified anyone about, I went out to visit Huck in his fort. When I arrived there, I saw him on the rooftop and he saw me too. Then we met inside.

"Hey, Blackberry. Long time no see," Huck welcomed me.

"Yes, I have been sick for these past five days but now I'm okay," I replied

"Oh, why didn't you tell us? We could have taken care of you. We thought you have been concentrating on your inventions so we didn't want to disturb," he said.

"I didn't want to bother you all. I could take care of myself just fine," I replied.

"Hey, next time don't hesitate to ask for our help okay? That's what friends are for. Too bad you have missed a great event," he said with his hands on my shoulders.

"Don't worry about that. I saw them all," I replied.

"Hmm, let me guess. Eagle Eye?" he guessed, which was correct.

"Well, what else? With that I saw everything that happened in the competition. I found it funny that none of you noticed the obvious fact," I said, remembering all Peppermint's cheating there. Nailing her shoes to her skateboard, putting springs on her shoes, gluing her opponents' feet to the ground, those were still not all of what she had done.

"Well, that couldn't be helped. We thought she had learnt her lesson from the previous event, so we trusted her," he replied, making me remember the time she used my walkman for cheating in the pet contest.

"You all can be too trusting sometimes," I said, chuckling. Right after that, a toddler came in. I knew I had seen her a few times before through Eagle Eye, but I still didn't know her name. I approached her and asked with a smile.

"Hello, what is your name cutie?" I asked.

"Apple Dumplin' wants to know your name too," she replied.

"I'm Blackberry Bun. It's nice to meet you, Apple Dumplin'. Where do you live?" I asked.

"Apple Dumplin' live with Strawberry. Apple Dumplin' is Strawberry sister," she replied, which surprised me a bit and made me look towards Huck, who immediately nodded. I then remembered seeing her in the Time Monitor on the day the group re-introduced themselves to each other so it became clear to me.

"You are not with your sister now?" I asked

"Strawberry and friends collect berries, Apple Dumplin' go to Huckleberry house," she answered.

I still had questions in my mind. Where was she on the day I had the accident with Telekinator, and the next two days when I had my first introduction to Huck? Why it seemed like she was totally free to roam around Strawberryland without supervision, like in the day I saw her with Angel Cake a few days ago? And in Time Monitor I saw her coming out from a falling giant flower. So many questions inside my head.

I didn't ask those questions, though. The child has already been asked enough. For then I would just accept those things as they were. I believed I would get to know the answers someday.

The three of us spent the rest of the afternoon together. When the sun began to set, Apple went home on her own, and so did I. I was still wondering about all the questions in my mind, but I decided to save them for later when I met her again someday.

At the next day, when I was home alone working at another device, somebody rang my doorbell and I opened the entrance. Huck, along with Apple, came in and I welcomed them.

"Hi, Huck. Hi, Apple. What brought you two here?" I asked.

"Strawberry grow garden with friends. Apple Dumplin' play with Huckleberry. Apple want to go to Blackberry too," Apple replied.

"Well, I'm happy to welcome you two here, but wouldn't it be better if we all go help them?" I asked.

"Strawberry not want Apple work too hard. Strawberry told Apple that," she replied.

"Well, there is a way to help without working too hard," I said with a smile, then I took Nature's Blessing from Successful Invention shelf.

"What is that Blackberry?" Apple asked.

"Nature's Blessing. With this, plants will grow before your eyes. I have used this once and I'm sure Huckleberry knows when," I answered with a meaningful smile to Huck.

"Huh...? You mean... the Growing Better All The Time Garden was your doing?" he said with surprised tone.

"Well, yes. If the said garden is the one which once had a problem with crows. By the way, I didn't see you that time Apple. Where were you?" I said, trying to divert the topic before I accidentally told him that I was also the one who had invited the crows.

"The same. Strawberry not want Apple work too hard," she replied.

"I see. Let's go then. The sooner we help our friends, the better," I said. Then all three of us left Blackberry Bushes.

When the place where the garden was supposed to be made was on our sight, we didn't see Strawberry and friends there. All we saw was two strangers, one male and one female, planting something there. We stopped and spied on them from afar.

"What's going on here? Who are they?" Huck asked, and Apple was as clueless as he was.

"Whatever they are doing, I can feel that they are up to no good..." I said.

"So what should we do?" he asked.

"Well, if they want something to grow there, nothing will grow," I said, planting Nature's Blessing, but not without tweaking it first. "Now this device will prevent anything from growing in there instead," I turned it on, and the device emitted pale green aura instead of the bright green it once had.

"I think now we should go to see Strawberry. I'm kinda worried about her," I said, which everyone else agreed. Then we left for Strawberry's home.

When we arrived there, we saw Strawberry throwing some things I recognized similar with the thing I had seen in Time Monitor. She was throwing butterfly letters. We then approached her.

"Hi, Apple. Hi, Huckleberry. Hi, Blackberry," she welcomed us.

"Hi Strawberry. I want to ask you something," I replied. Then we had a conversation where all three of us learned about Purple Pie Man and his sister Sour Grapes, then the dispute that happened because of Angel Cake's careless talk, the presence of two new friends as well, and Strawberry's plan to overcome it.

"Well, that's what will happen if someone does not think before talking," I said. "Glad that you have a good plan, Strawberry. The letters should be at their hands by now, and I guess we should not stay here any longer because we don't want to interfere with your plan,"

"Well, I guess so. Good luck, Strawberry. I hope you can restore their friendship," Huck said, agreeing with me.

As me and Huck went away, Apple pulled my shirt and said, "Apple want sleepover at Blackberry," which surprised me a bit, and I was speechless on that. "Apple want know Blackberry more," she continued, and I couldn't refuse. Strawberry also didn't mind so the decision was made easily.

That night, I was no longer alone in my house. Apple was with me, and so was Huck. I invited him too because I thought the more the merrier. We played around with things Huck brought from his fort, and also some of my devices which could be used to play around such as the Telekinator I had remade. All in all we spent good time in my house.

"You know, I'm kinda curious about Strawberry's plan. Did she succeed?" Huck asked me.

"Well, we can check if you want. And you know how," I replied with a wink, and he understood it clearly.

I turned on Eagle Eye and threw the satellite out. We checked on Strawberry's house and saw that her plan was indeed a successful one. Nobody in her house seemed to have a dispute any longer, and we ended up listening to them singing a very good song about Sweet Dreams. After that, we went to sleep. I left Eagle Eye turned on because I was too tired to call it back.

Later that night, I heard something from Eagle Eye's monitor. Something that cried for help. I woke up slowly, scrubbing my eyes, and walked to the monitor. What I saw there made me wonder if I was awake or still dreaming. A talking shining bug asking for help? However, the longer I saw the monitor, my drowsiness gradually diminished to the point I became sure that I was not dreaming. I woke Huck and Apple up and asked them to take a look. It took some time for them to believe that they were not dreaming, but in the end they believed it.

"We should help them," Huck said.

"But it is too late. It took so long for you two to believe that you are not dreaming. Now Ginger Snap has somehow finished making that huge boat she called as Dream Boat and now it is departing... except if..." I replied.

"Except what, Blackberry? Hurry up if you know something!" Huck said, and I nodded.

"Come here," I said, taking a remote from my desk's drawer and running to the outside of my house. I pressed one button of the remote, which revealed a small aircraft that had been invisible. Huck and Apple looked astonished.

"All aboard!" I said, entering the aircraft and they came in as well. "Now fasten your seatbelt because this will be a rough ride,"

I turned the aircraft on and tried to pilot it as smoothly as possible. But as I had said, it became a rough ride although the aircraft managed to fly.

"What is this Blackberry?" Huck asked with weird tone due to the massive vibration inside.

"The most difficult thing I've ever tried to make, which I named as Falcon. As you may already noticed, Falcon is still not perfect yet, and I couldn't find any way to fix the problem so I gave up and put it into invisibility so I could just forget it," I replied, almost biting my tongue several times.

We had a really rough ride until we saw the Dream Boat Ginger Snap has made flying in front of us. However, Falcon's main engine suddenly overheated, slowing down the aircraft significantly.

"We are losing them! What should we do?" Huck said, quite panicked.

I pressed a button which made Falcon shoot a harpoon to the back of the boat. The harpoon softly attached itself to the Dream Boat without making any damage, and then Falcon and Dream Boat became connected through a long invisible wire. The sudden load that the boat had to carry made it have a similar rough ride for a short moment, but after that everything went fine.

"Now that the two vehicles are connected, we won't lose track of them and our ride will be smoother," I said, turning off the main engine leaving only the float engine on. Apple was afraid of this trip and started to cry. I then attached my walkman to Falcon's sound system, which then played another astonishing song I had recorded from another universe.

_Don't cry, don't be blue  
__We're sailing toward a day that's new  
Who knows all the joys in store?  
__When you're sailing toward tomorrow_

_The sun will shine so bright  
And we'll be guided by the stars at night  
They remind us we can dream of more  
'Cause we're sailing toward tomorrow_

_So don't be scared or ill at ease  
Afraid the sun won't rise  
The endless possibilities  
Are as limitless as the skies_

_The rain will splish and splash  
But then clouds will disappear in a flash  
And a rainbow will appear from shore to shore  
'Cause we're sailing toward, Yes we're sailing toward tomorrow_

_The rain will splish and splash  
But then clouds will disappear in a flash  
And that rainbow's gonna make your spirits soar_

_'Cause you'll be sailing toward  
You'll be sailing toward  
'Cause you'll be sailing toward  
Sailing sweetly toward tomorrow_

Yeah, nobody knew what we would be facing at the destination of this trip...

-To be continued-

Referenced episode: Sweet Dreams Movie


	8. Chapter 7 Part 2

Chapter 7 Part 2: Sweet Dreams

The three of us: Me, Huck, and Apple were still following Ginger Snap's Dream Boat using my aircraft I named Falcon, which was connected to the boat by Falcon's invisible harpoon, when we saw what our destination was. It was a beautiful three-level land made of mostly clouds.

"So this is what they call as The Land of Dreams..." I said.

The Dream Boat flew around The Land of Dreams, which was not good for Falcon's harpoon. The force from the propelling movement broke the harpoon loose from the boat, and if I haven't done anything Falcon would have been thrown far away. I attempted to turn on the main engine and luckily it has cooled down enough. Our rough ride started again.

The Dream Boat did not have a better luck either. Because of the sudden loose of the load, it became nearly uncontrollable and we saw it landed very roughly at the second level of the land.

"We will land there as well right?" Huck asked.

"I'm trying to," I replied. "But to tell you the truth, I have never landed this aircraft."

"What? Are you serious?" Huck said, surprised.

"Yes, all this time I only have gone as far as testing the engine without making it fly. This is really my first flight..." I answered, which was certainly not a pleasant answer.

I attempted to smoothly descend down to the part of the land near the Dream Boat. However, luck was not on our side. Falcon's main engine overheated again and this time it exploded along with most part of the float engine, giving Falcon no choice other than a near-free fall.

"Huck, brace yourself and Apple. This is going to be a very rough landing," I said, and he did it immediately. Falcon fell down hard to a place quite distant from the Dream Boat and all three of us fell unconscious.

We didn't know how long we have been unconscious. The thing that woke us up was the sound of a violent thunder.

"Are you two okay?" I asked, rubbing my head without looking at them.

"I'm okay, I think," Huck answered.

"Pretty much..." Apple answered. However, when we looked at her, she was not the same toddler we knew. What we saw was a girl with the same age as us.

"Apple? What happened to you? I mean, you're now... different..." I asked.

"Apple Dumplin' don't know," she answered.

"Anyway, let's get out of here first," Huck said, which we agreed.

We went out of the aftermath of Falcon. When we looked back at it, what we saw was an unrecognizable wreck. Falcon was damaged heavily that we had no idea how we had not been wounded at all.

"Woah, can't believe that we made it out unscathed," Huck said.

"Well, I can't believe it as well. But this is The Land of Dreams, so anything is possible I think. Like the thing that happened to Apple," I replied, looking at Apple. "Anyway, let's move. We have to help our friends,"

We walked until we arrived at a place where we could see two buildings. The bigger one looked like some kind of castle, while the smaller one had a clock on its front. We went to check the smaller one first, and when we arrived right in front of it, the door opened and a lady greeted us.

"Come in here, kids," She said with a friendly tone, and we came in right away.

"Welcome to PJ's. Do you have reservations?" She asked.

"Well, no I think..." I replied.

"Let's see... Table for three: Blackberry Bun, Huckleberry Pie, and Apple Dumplin' right?" She said, holding her notebook and pencil.

"That's right. But how did you know?" Huck asked.

"I know many things in The Land of Dreams," She answered with a wink.

We sat down around a round table, and a glass of hot chocolate appeared right in front of each of us out of nowhere. "Anything can happen in the Land of Dreams, right?" I said.

"That's right, dear. Now tell me why you are here," She replied.

So I told her everything that happened starting from the moment I had overheard the sleepbug until the moment we ended up at her place.

"I see. You come with a good intention at heart. But unfortunately, you can't help them..." She said.

"What? How come?" Huck asked, surprised.

"Your friends are now in Sandman's Dream Factory. To get there the only way is to ride Butterscotch Butterflies, and unfortunately your friends have used all of them," She answered.

"So now our friends are there and we can't help them? Oh man..." Huck said with a little bit upset tone.

"If only I can repair Falcon..." I murmured.

"You can, dear. You only have to believe," She said, which I didn't really believe.

"Anyway, now that we are here, can you tell us what happened to Apple Dumplin'?" I asked.

"Well, she was supposed to be... younger right?" She observed. "In the Land of Dreams we can become anything we want to be, and this is no exception,"

"Yeah... Apple Dumplin' wants to be bigger, as big as Strawberry and Friends," Apple replied. "Apple does not want to be too little to do anything. Apple does not want Strawberry to limit Apple because Apple is too little anymore!"

"Hmm, I once saw you playing around Strawberryland all by yourself. Is that what you call 'limiting'?" I asked.

"Strawberryland is safe so Strawberry let Apple play around alone," She answered. "But Strawberry never let Apple help her in tending garden, making cookies and cakes with her, any other thing. Apple wants to help her but..." She continued with a little sob.

"Strawberryland is safe? Maybe I should not tell about what happened to the group at that Telekinator accident day," I thought. Then I was going to say something to comfort her, but a violent thunder sound interrupted. A boy in pajama rushed in with a frightened face.

"PJ, this is bad! The Dream Fort has been struck by a big lightning bolt and is now on fire!" He shouted in panic.

All of us rushed outside, only to be presented to a horrible scene. The castle-like building we had seen before was covered in flames. A large number of boys and girls in pajamas were crowding the open field in front of PJ's.

"Is everybody here?" PJ shouted, calming the crowd down.

"Some Dream Senders are still inside! They are so scared that they won't move from their place!" One of the boys answered.

"Dream Senders...?" I asked.

"Come on Blackberry! They have no time to explain that! We have to do something fast or the ones inside will be burned!" Huck interrupted.

"We don't have anything to put the fire off, so we have to focus on rescuing the ones trapped inside," PJ said. "Someone will have to enter and escort them to outside,"

Nobody offered to enter, until someone raised hand. That person was nobody other than Apple Dumplin'. "Apple will do it,"

"But Apple, it's too dangerous! You'll be hurt, or even worse!" I said.

"Apple not too little! Apple believes Apple can do it!" She replied, which left me speechless as she went inside the Dream Fort.

"I will go too!" Huck said, going inside following Apple.

I could feel massive embarassment struck my chest as they went in. The cowardly me, standing around doing nothing outside. What would others say if they knew about this? I would lose friend again for sure. Nobody would want to be friends with a coward. I tried to gather all the courage I had until I finally said those words.

"I... I... I'm going in too!" I said, starting to move towards the Dream Fort. But suddenly PJ grabbed my arm. I looked at her, and she pointed her finger towards the Dream Fort with a smile. I looked at the way she pointed and saw both Apple and Huck, along with a number of children in pajamas, coming out of the Dream Fort. They had succeeded.

"Anybody can do anything in the Land of Dreams. You just have to believe. And you have a more important thing to do, dear. Remember, you have to believe in your dreams, and in yourself," PJ said, pointing at my chest. I immediately understood and ran towards Falcon's aftermath.

When I arrived there, and saw the wrecked Falcon once again, I doubted. But I had to believe in myself so I closed my eyes and concentrated. "Believe in my dream, believe in myself," I said in my thinking over and over again.

When I opened my eyes, suddenly all Falcon's problems became clear in my mind, as well as the solutions that could be done, and even new ideas that could make Falcon better than ever. "Now I need a toolbox to realize all these," I thought, and a toolbox appeared immediately at my grip. I was delighted, and began working immediately.

I didn't know how long it took me. All I knew then was me standing, looking at the new Falcon, and said to myself, "Talk about a dream come true."

Huck and Apple came at me running. Huck said to me, "Hey, Blackberry. PJ is looking for you because... Wow... You have fixed Falcon? Not only that, you have made it much different than before... Wow... Neato..."

"Apple thinks so too. This is great, Blackberry," Apple said.

"Believe in my dream and believe in myself. That's the key. Anyway, why is PJ looking for me? As soon as I'm done we will go to help our friends," I replied, which made Huck and Apple giggled. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"You took so long to do your work, Blackberry. Our friends have already solved the problems themselves," Huck answered. "Now the Land of Dreams residents are fixing the Dream Boat and our friends will depart soon,"

"What? Oh... Sorry, I'm not as fast as Ginger Snap. Now we came here for nothing..." I said.

"Not for nothing. Apple and Huck saved the Dream Senders, and Blackberry made his dream come true," Apple interrupted.

"Umm, yeah. But still, we didn't help our friends after all," I replied.

"Not really. I haven't told you why PJ is looking for you, right? The Dream Boat's damage turned out to be far worse than it looks. Even after it is fixed, it will still can float, but not be able to fly properly. So with your Falcon..." Huck said.

I immediately understood that we would be having the trip in a reverse order. On the first trip the Dream Boat had towed Falcon, and now Falcon would be towing the Dream Boat on the trip home.

"Oh, on a side note, none of our friends know about us being here. Me and Apple and many others were so busy restoring the Dream Fort back to the way it was. Not so long after we had finished it, through a window we saw our friends celebrating for their success," He said.

"Then Apple and Huck heard a loud noise from everywhere. When Apple and Huck stepped out of Dream Fort, PJ came and told us to tell Blackberry what Huck had explained to you," Apple continued.

"Okay, I see. I think it is better for them not to know about us being here after all. I cannot imagine how everyone's face will become if they see both of you, especially Apple, having that kind of face. Haven't both of you realized that your face is full of black marks from the fire's smokes and whatever you were doing back then?" I said, giggling a little. The two of them looked at each other and giggled as well.

"We have, but you didn't realize about yourself, Blackberry. We giggled at the first time because your face wasn't much different than us," Huck replied, and the three of us laughed together.

Later, I had attached Falcon's invisible harpoon to the Dream Boat, with Falcon itself being in Invisible Mode. The three of us waited until the Dream Boat turned on its main engine and floated, then I controlled Falcon to tow Dream Boat smoothly. I could hear everyone outside wishing our friends, and us as well, goodbye. I also could hear a beautiful song coming from Dream Boat.

_It's never silly to believe  
__And in the morning when you wake  
If you take your dreams with you  
You can make all your dreams come true_

_So good night, and with the morning light  
You can make your own sweet dreams  
Come true..._

"Beautiful song, isn't it?" I said, but there was no answer. I looked at Huck and Apple, to saw that both of them had fallen asleep. Also, Apple has already reverted back to the toddler she was. "Ah, well. I'll just let them have their peace,"

I landed smoothly in front of Strawberry's house, and waited for the crews to get out. However, nobody stepped out of the Dream Boat. I went aboard it to check, and realized that all of the crews were fast asleep.

"Okay, now what should I do?" I said to myself, scratching my head, until a number bright lights that seemed similar to the Sleep Bug but quite bigger, came and circled around Dream Boat. I could hear one of the lights speaking to me, "We will take care of the rest. Thank you for your help and have a sweet dream,"

The next thing I knew, I was already home on my bed, as well as Apple and Huck, who were still fast asleep on theirs. I was under impression that all that happened last night was just a dream, but then I took the same remote from my drawer and went outside. I pressed one button to put Falcon's invisibility off, and what I saw next was the new Falcon, not the old one.

"Yeah, all the things that happened last night was not a dream after all," I thought, before finding a note stickied to Falcon. I took it and read it.

_Blackberry,_  
_What we were doing last night was putting your friends on their bed and rewriting a small part of their memory so they would think that everything was just a dream. We actually did the same to you, but in the end this vehicle of yours would prove that you were not dreaming, so I put this message for you: Please do not tell anyone about the existence of The Land of Dreams._

_It has been a regulation for a long time not to let anyone in the awake realms know the existence of The Land of Dreams. They are openly welcomed on occasions where they somehow able to come. But after they go home, we the Dream Fairies will do the same like what we have done last night. Although I can feel that you and your friends are trustworthy, I cannot risk any more break to the regulation after this case of yours. So please do your best to keep the secret._

_Kind Regards,_  
_Dream Fairy Chief_

_P.S. If you are wondering where we took the Dream Boat away, I will let you know one thing: We have entrusted it to a different group of fairies, and you can rest assured that it is in good hands._

"Dream Fairies, huh? And a different group of fairies? Now I wonder if there are Berry Fairies as well, looking at the size of the berries in this land..." I said to myself, putting the note in my pocket and walking back inside my house. When I got inside, I put the remote back into my drawer and then the daily alarm clock rang, waking the two friends up. "Rise and shine everyone. It's already seven thirty,"

"Apple have a strange dream..." Apple said with drowsy eyes.

"I think me too. I went into this amazing place... But it was just a silly dream... wasn't it?" Huck said.

"Well, it might be a dream, but it was not a silly one, I believe," I said, when Apple walked to my desk and gazed at one drawer.

"Apple dreamed Blackberry had a remote here, and a flying car," she said, opening the drawer.

"Apple, it is not nice to open someone else's drawer," Huck interrupted, which made Apple close the drawer without seeing what was inside.

"Oops, sowwry," Apple replied.

"No problem," I replied, although I was really scared just a few seconds before. "Who's hungry for breakfast?"

After having our breakfast, we all agreed to check on Strawberry and friends. We went all the way towards Strawberry's house. When we were near the garden-to-be field, we saw our friends there as well as the two villains. We didn't hear what they had said, but after seeing the two villains went away, we were assured that now the field is safe.

"I will revert Nature's Blessing back to its original function," I said, walking to the place where I had hidden the device. After I had finished tweaking it, I put it back and turned it on. It emitted its usual bright green light, but then it malfunctioned with black smokes coming out from it.

"Whoa, what happened?" Huck asked in surprised tone.

"Overheated, or maybe a hint that I should not play with nature..." I said with a straight face. "A good garden is grown not with a machine,"

"But with what?" He asked.

"Wove..." Apple said.

"Yes... Love is what makes a garden grows, not this machine. Machine can help but love is the most important one," I said.

"Oh, yes. Forgot about that," Huck agreed. "But what about the Growing Better All The Time garden? This device succeeded right?"

"Well, I don't know about that. Anyway, I'm taking this home. You can go ahead and visit her," I said, walking away with the device in my hand.

"Apple go with Blackberry. Apple still want to know Blackberry more," Apple said, following me.

"I will go with you too," Huck said. "Strawberry already has five friends accompanying her now. Seven if we count Custard and Pupcake in as well. But you now only have the two of us,"

Of course I couldn't refuse. The three of us then went back to my home, not knowing anything about what happened next. We learned about it in the afternoon that the garden had finally grown, and it grew faster than the other garden I had helped growing with my device.

"Indeed, love is a strong power," I thought, gazing at the beautiful garden Strawberry and friends have made with hard work, faith, and most importantly... Love.

-End of Chapter 7... Or is it?-

Referenced episode: Sweet Dreams Movie


	9. Chapter 7 Part 3

Chapter 7 Part 3: Do You Know The Way to The Dream Fairy Fields?

It has been three days since the day we have had our adventure to The Land of Dreams. The garden has fully grown into a rich garden full of berries for everyone over Strawberryland, and all of us have been having nice dreams over these three days. It seemed that everything has returned to normal, although until then I was still wondering about the Dream Fairies. There had been a time when I had not believed in magic or anything magical, including magical creatures such as fairies. Recent adventures had made me think different, but there were still doubts inside my mind.

I was a person who does not fully believe until I see something for myself. That night I only had seen lights, so then I wanted to see the Dream Fairies for real. However, I didn't know how to get to them at all. I had thought over it for a while, but no idea had come.

I was still lying under a tree, thinking over a way to see the Dream Fairies, when a voice greeted me.

"Hey you. You're... Blackberry right?" That voice said. I got up and saw a girl in purple looking at me with strange gaze, and another girl in yellow alongside her.

"Yes, I'm Blackberry. And you are..." I replied.

"Raspberry Torte," The girl in purple answered.

"Lemon Meringue," The girl in yellow continued.

"Strawberry has told us about you," Raspberry said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, you're the one whose house is hidden inside a large tree," she replied. "And that's all. Huck and Apple, those two were the only ones who had ever visited you,"

"Yes, that's true..." I said.

"Well, make it four," she said.

"Huh?" I wondered.

"We want to visit your house. Me and Lemon," She replied.

"We do?" Lemon asked.

"Okay okay. I want to, and I was asking you to come along as well. So you come?" Raspberry replied.

"Yes, of course," Lemon said. "Knowing more about a new friend is always a pleasure,"

"So, we go now?" Raspberry asked me.

"Well, umm... Okay..." I answered timidly.

"What's wrong with you? You don't like us to come? Then fine, we won't come," Raspberry said in a not pleasant tone.

"No! I mean... It's a pleasure... Really..." I said.

"You don't sound like that..." Raspberry said, examining my face. "Hey, we don't bite, you know,"

I myself wondered why inconfidence struck me again after all this time. But if I remembered it again, at the time I had introduced myself to everyone and also at the time I had talked with Peppermint, Huck had been there alongside me. That meant I always needed Huck to keep my confidence, and I saw that as not good since that also meant I was too dependant to Huck.

"Y... Yeah... Of course you don't... Let's go..." I said, still timidly.

The three of us went deep into Blackberry Bushes until we arrived in front of the large tree where my house was hidden.

"So this is the tree? Indeed it hides your house very well," Raspberry commented.

"Yes..." I said, pressing the button on the tree, which unhid the ladder. "Please, come in,"

When the three of us got inside, the two girls looked around and found their way to the three invention shelves: "Successful" which displayed quite alot of devices, "Unfinished" which was empty thanks to Huck giving me moral supports, and "Danger! Do not touch!" which until then only contained Time Remote's aftermath.

"Umm... You can go ahead and play with the devices... But please don't..." I said before interrupted by Raspberry.

"Yeah yeah. Who will dare to touch that one anyway if there's this big `Danger do not touch` sign above it?" She said.

"Whew, this place is quite hot... Hey, this one looks like a mini-fan. Let me try it," Lemon said, taking one device from the "Successful" shelf.

"Oh, that's Gale. Be careful using it since the wind it produces is..." I said before she turned it on, blowing her hat away out of the window at the back of my house. "...very strong..."

"Oh no! My hat!" She shouted.

"Come on, it's not the end of the world. And I'm sure it will not fly far," Raspberry said.

We all looked out of the window searching for the hat until we found it below, floating in mid-air. The two girls seemed confused, but I knew why it happened. The hat had landed on the invisible Falcon.

"Wow, my hat is floating?" Lemon said.

"This is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen," Raspberry commented.

"Well, looks like I cannot hide it now..." I said, taking Falcon's remote from my desk's drawer. "Let's go out,"

The three of us walked to the place where Lemon's hat was "floating" and I pressed one button which put Falcon's invisibility off.

"Whoa... What is this...?" Lemon asked, seeming astonished.

"Falcon. My flying car. You want a ride?" I answered, taking Lemon's hat from the roof and giving it back to her.

"That would be great," Raspberry said

"Yes, of course," Lemon added.

"Then all aboard," I said, before entering Falcon.

The two girls entered Falcon as well, and I started its engine. Unlike the previous ride with Huck and Apple, this time I was able to fly the aircraft smoothly. We flew around Strawberryland, seeing alot of beautiful sceneries from above.

"Blackberry, you're great to be able to make a vehicle that can go anywhere like this," Lemon said.

"Anywhere..." That one word struck me. Why hadn't I thought about it from the start? Yes, that was quite possible seeing that this vehicle had come from there.

"Thank you, Lemon," I said.

"Huh? Thank me for what?" She asked.

"For what you have said," I answered, and we continued our ride.

That night, unlike what I usually did, I didn't go to sleep. I went into Falcon and flew it high. I intended to use it to go to Land of Dreams once again and ask about the Dream Fairies. However, even after some hours of flying, I couldn't find the Land of Dreams. I remembered the Dreamboat flying through some kind of portal with the shape of a star back then.

"Looks like this is eventually useless..." I said to myself with a sigh. "You two can come out from your hiding, Lemon and Raspberry,"

After I said the last sentence, Raspberry and Lemon came out from behind the rear passenger seat, seemed confused.

"How did you know that we were here?" Lemon asked.

"This monitor shows me since the beginning," I answered, pointing at the monitor in front of me. "It shows that there are two persons behind the rear seat, and from the silhouette I could recognize that it was you two,"

"If you say so, why did you pretend that you didn't know?" Raspberry asked.

"Well, I..." I said, trying to think of a good reason, but I couldn't find any so I ended up in silence.

"What is it? You don't want to tell us? Are we THAT untrustworthy?" Raspberry said with upset tone.

"No... It's just that..." I spoke timidly again until Lemon interrupted.

"Hey! Look there!" She shouted, pointing to the front. I looked to the front and saw a glimmer of light flying around. The more I observed it, the clearer it was to me that the light was the...

"Sleepbug!" All three of us shouted at the same time, then we looked at each other.

"You know that too?" Lemon asked.

"That's what I was going to ask you," Raspberry replied. "I thought it was just a dream. But looks like it's not,"

"Let's follow it," I said, piloting Falcon to follow the sleepbug. "By the way, I want to ask why you sneaked in,"

"Well, you saying `Thank you` for what she had said was suspicious. So we decided to sneak in this `vehicle that can go anywhere` and see what you're going to do," Raspberry answered.

"We did?" Lemon asked.

"Okay okay, it was just me, and I brought her along," Raspberry said.

"You two have a very close friendship huh? I have never seen one of you without the other," I commented.

"Well..." Raspberry said before a bright light appeared in front of us. It was the star-shaped portal, and we flew through it.

The next thing we saw was the Land of Dreams, still as beautiful as before, in front.

"It's the land..." Lemon said.

"Indeed..." Raspberry added.

"The Land of Dreams," both of them spoke together.

I piloted Falcon around the whole land and then landed it on the field in front of PJ's. The three of us then came out and looked around, once again astonished by the beauty of the land.

"The dream was not a dream after all," Raspberry said.

"Or maybe we just continued our dream...?" Lemon wondered.

"Come on, we have been awake all the time since this morning. There's no way this is a dream," Raspberry said.

We walked towards PJ's, and when we got close the door opened. We entered and met a lady inside, who was nobody other than PJ herself, holding her usual pencil and notepad.

"Let's see... Blackberry Bun, Lemon Meringue, and Raspberry Torte... Welcome to PJ's," she said.

"It's nice to meet you again," Lemon said.

"Indeed, it's a pleasure," Raspberry added.

"Me too," I said.

"And me too, dear. Please have a seat," PJ said, and we sat around a round table. "So what brought you here now?"

"Well, I want to ask about something, but first I want to ask... Why your face look unhappy? Is there a problem?" I asked, looking at PJ's face, which has been showing depression since the beginning.

"Uh? Well, I cannot hide it forever... Truth to be told..." She began speaking.

"You cannot go home. Or to be exact, we cannot let you go home," A voice interrupted. We all looked towards the source of the voice, and saw a tiny girl with butterfly wings.

"A fairy? Who are you and what do you mean you can't let us go home?" Raspberry asked.

"I am Mary Midnight. Chief of the Dream Fairies. Pleased to meet you," The fairy answered.

"Okay, now explain why we cannot go home, and what are these Dream Fairies you have spoken about? I really don't understand a thing!" Raspberry said.

"Okay, maybe I should explain everything from the beginning," Mary answered, flying above the table we were sitting around, and waving her wand. A rotating hologram-like image of Land of Dreams appeared on the table.

"This is Land of Dreams," She said

"Uh-huh..." Raspberry muttered.

"Land of Dreams consists of three levels. First is the top level, where Sandman and Dream Builders work to make dreams. Then there's the bottom level where we are on now. In here the Dream Senders receive the dreams from the top level and then they do the delivery to everyone in the awake realms," She explained.

"Then the middle level?" I asked. "I don't remember seeing anything special there,"

"Well... It seems as there's nothing there. But the middle level is the place where we, The Dream Fairies live. Our role is to go to the awake realms and make sure that everyone there receives the dreams safely. We also do other things like inducing sleep powder to insomniacs, driving stray nightmares away, and other things too many to mention. We are so busy that unfortunately there are always some people left out," Mary said.

"Okay okay. Now I understand about who you are. But you still haven't answered why we cannot go home," Raspberry said.

"The existence of The Land of Dreams is not to be known by anyone from awake realms. That's the bottom line," Mary answered.

"Hey, but all of us could go home the last time. Not to mention that Pie Man seemed to know this place since the beginning," I said.

"Well, how he knew that is still a mystery. But we have taken care of that by erasing that knowledge out of his and his sister's head at the time you all sent him back to the awake realms," Mary answered.

"Wait wait wait. You said you can erase knowledge out of one's head. Why won't you just do that once we get home if you really want us not to know this place. I can live without it anyway," Raspberry said, seeming upset.

"Unfortunately, the magic cannot be casted to the same person more than once. So now no matter how hard we try, the memory cannot be erased from you," Mary answered. "That's why we cannot let you go home,"

"Come on! What bad thing is going to happen if we go home knowing about this place?! I can keep my mouth shut. Or you think I am THAT untrustworthy?! That's it! I'm tired of everyone thinking that I am untrustworthy! First Blackberry, and now this fairy!" Raspberry shouted, seemed frustated.

I was quite shocked by what she just said. She thought that I considered her not untrustworthy? I had never had that kind of thought in my mind. Although, I knew what had made her think like that.

"I don't care about this! I'm going home!" Raspberry said, walking to the door. However, suddenly she collapsed right in front of the door and didn't move anymore.

"Raspberry!" Lemon and I shouted, running towards her. However, as we got near her both of us also collapsed.

I still had my consciousness, but I couldn't move any muscle. I could hear Mary and PJ talked to each other.

"Glad I had put Tranquilizer spell on the door right at the time I came," Mary said.

"Do you really have to do this to these dears? They are just kids..." PJ asked.

"If I had had freedom I wouldn't have done it. Her Majesty is very strict about this..." Mary answered.

"Now what are you going to do to them...?" PJ asked.

"According to the information I have, the boy will be nicely treated. But the two girls..." Mary said.

"What about Lemon Meringue and Raspberry Torte?" PJ asked.

"Her Majesty probably will order me to put them in prison... And if she does I won't be able to object..." Mary answered.

As I heard all those, my consciousness diminished little by little until I finally fell unconscious...

-To be continued-

Referenced episode: None


	10. Chapter 7 Part 4

Chapter 7 Final Part: Fake Lie

I didn't know how long I had been unconscious because of Mary's spell. The next thing I saw was a horrible vision of Raspberry and Lemon being locked in a prison with their arms chained to the wall. Raspberry seemed very upset while Lemon just stood still with tears leaking from her eyes. How could they do this to them? No, this couldn't be...

"No!" I shouted, and realized that I was on a comfortable bed. It seemed that I had been dreaming, but I felt that it was too real to be just a dream. I looked around and saw that I was in a quite nice and well-furnished room, but thinking that my two friends were getting a completely different treat...

"Finally awake?" A familiar voice said. I looked at the source and saw Mary who was smiling at me. Her size somehow became much bigger than the last time. She had been very small, but this time she was as tall as me.

"Why are you..." I said, intending to ask a question, but stopped by myself because I suddenly realized that my voice became high-pitched. "Huh? My voice..."

"Your voice is the side effect of a magic. In here you have to be at the same size like us to fit into this land," Mary said.

"You mean, I was shrunk?" I said.

"Indeed. Welcome to the Dream Fairy Fields," she said, waving her wand. A set of food appeared on a table. "Have your meal. I know you are hungry," she said.

"No..." I refused. "I don't want to sit, enjoying meal while my friends are suffering,"

"What do you mean?" She asked, seemed confused.

"I heard what you said. Raspberry and Lemon were going to be put in prison, while I get this nice treatment. I can't just simply accept this... unfair thing," I answered.

Mary seemed to be thinking, until she said, "Oh, come on. I said `probably` and that didn't mean it was going to happen for sure,"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Wait a moment," she answered, walking out of the room and a few minutes later came back along with Raspberry and Lemon. "See? They are here safe and sound. Her Majesty was in her generous mood so she gave your friends the same treatment as yours,"

"But now I'm wondering..." I said, and I told everyone the horrible vision I had seen.

"Oh, it seems a stray nightmare has gotten over you. Sorry, I must have missed it," She answered.

"Stray nightmare...?" I asked, wondering.

"Oh, the bats I turned into butterflies," Raspberry said.

"Not necessarily bats. Nightmare is an entity without any definite shape. It can transform itself into any kind of creature. For unknown reason, nightmare seems to be fond of bats so it is almost always seen in that shape," Mary explained.

"Bats for nightmares... Poor bats, they seems to be misunderstood by many..." I said with low voice.

"What did you say?" Mary asked.

"Nothing, just a little mumbling," I answered. "In any case, I'm glad that you two are okay,"

"Yeah... Yeah..." Raspberry answered with weird high-pitched voice, seemed still upset.

"I'm glad that you are okay too, Blackberry," Lemon said, also with high-pitched voice.

"I suppose you can have your meal now, Blackberry," Marry said, blinking her eye with a smile.

"Oh, yes... I forgot. Thanks," I answered, and the three of them went away.

After finishing my meal, I went to a closed window in my room and opened it to look outside. The scenery I saw at the next second was so breathtaking. I was in a high place seeing houses below and stars above.

"Beautiful scenery right?" A familiar voice asked. I looked around and saw Mary floating just beside the window. "This is what we call as Dream Fairy Fields, and you are now seeing it from Her Majesty's castle,"

"Yeah, indeed. By the way, was I asleep for a long time? It was night when you put us to sleep, and now it is still night," I said.

"Oh, you don't know yet? Land of Dreams never sees the light of day. Now that I remember it, they still don't know about it either. Anyway, you want to go out and walk around?" She asked.

"Well, why not? Bring Raspberry and Lemon along as well," I said.

"Okay, I'll get them. Meet me at the castle entrance. It should be pretty easy to find, just follow the purple carpet," Mary answered, flying away.

I walked out of my room and followed the purple carpet I saw. I kept walking inside the big castle for quite a while until I finally arrived at the castle's entrance with the large main door just in front of me. Mary and the others were not there yet so I stood around waiting for them. However, suddenly I felt something strange. I looked around and realized that the strange feeling came from a nearby door. I approached the door and examined it. The door was a wooden door which had a small opening with bars.

"Seems like a prison door," I thought. The door was locked and the opening was positioned too high for me to look into. I still stared at the door for the next few minutes until a voice called.

"Hey, what are you doing there?" the voice asked. I looked at the source and saw Mary with Raspberry and Lemon. "Shall we go now?"

"Umm, yeah. By the way what is this door?" I asked.

"Oh, that is the dungeon entrance. There is no need to go inside. There are only prisons there," Mary answered.

"Oh, so this is the place..." I said. "Anyway, yes we can go now,"

All four of us walked around Dream Fairy Fields. A few times I saw Lemon acting strange, seemed like she was concentrating to gather some kind of power.

"What are you doing, Lemon?" I asked.

"I wanted to try that again, but I can't seem to do it now," she answered.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Transforming into a fairy. I did it once in Dream Factory," She answered.

"It was our doing," Mary said "All the magics you and your friends have done were all our doing,"

"Hmm, can you explain it further?" I asked. "There are some things I still don't understand,"

"Okay, we Dream Fairies have the ability to give someone power depending on what their strongest dream is. Lemon's strongest dream was to become a princess of fairies so we could transform her into one. Strawberry's dream was a garden so all we could do was growing a bush to block Pie Man, which ended up pretty useless frankly speaking," She answered. "And Lemon, you cannot use the power here because Her Majesty prohibits the usage of this power in Dream Fairy Fields,"

"I think I have to thank whoever helped me to make my new Falcon," I said.

"It was me who was there, but all I did was just giving you the toolbox. You made your Falcon on your own, so be proud of yourself," she replied, which surprised me. "Speaking of thanking, yeah maybe you should thank me anyway. It was me who protected the three of you when your old Falcon fell down. And before you said it, you're welcome,"

"Umm, yeah... Thank you," I said with a little laugh.

"Wait wait wait. The three of us didn't crash last night. Did I miss something?" Raspberry aksed, still with upset tone. And so I ended up telling her, and Lemon as well, about my secret visit along with Huck and Apple. "So YOU were the cause of Dream Boat crashing. I thought you are better than that, but it seems I was wrong. Screw it, I'm off!" Raspberry said in an even more angry tone and left towards the castle.

"And that's a friendship ruined..." I said with a deep sigh. "Just because I wanted to help..."

"Raspberry..." Lemon said, starting to follow her, but stopped midway. She looked at me with confused looks, seeming to be in a dillemma whether to stay with me or follow Raspberry. In the end, she chose to follow Raspberry. I was left with Mary, and due to the unpleasant atmosphere I decided to go back to my room and sleep again.

The vision came to me again. Raspberry and Lemon chained to prison wall with unpleasant mood on their face, Raspberry was towards anger while Lemon was towards sadness. The vision was too real and horrible for me that it woke me up with my whole body covered by my own sweat.

"The door... There must be something there..." I thought, walking out of my room and then following the purple carpet until I reached the door with bars. "I hope I still carry it with me,"

I searched my pocket and took a key-shaped device I named as Key Master. I inserted it to what looked like a keyhole on the door, even though the hole was too big for the device. A light shined from the keyhole and then the lock opened. I entered the so-called dungeon and saw that it was really a dungeon. There was a long staircase leading down, which I followed. In the end I saw rows of bars which obviously implied that I was in the hallway of the castle's prison. I walked through it, looking left and right and saw that there was nobody inside any of the jail as far as I had been walking through.

However, as I reached the last jail furthest from the entrance, I looked into the jail and saw what exactly appeared in the visions I had had. I saw Raspberry with upset face and Lemon with sad face, standing with their arms chained high to the jail's wall.

"Raspberry! Lemon!" I shouted towards them.

"Blackberry! Glad you have come! Please release us fast and escape from this place!" Raspberry replied.

"Please release us, Blackberry," Lemon said with weak voice.

"How could they do this to you two?" I asked.

"How could I know? They probably have some kind of silly rule? In any case, release us and then we should leave this nasty place as soon as possible!" She answered.

While opening the jail's door with Key Master, I asked, "Then who were the Raspberry and Lemon I saw this morning?"

"What do you mean...? Oh... Probably just fakes made up to confuse you. The next thing we knew after last night was being here chained to the wall," Raspberry answered. "We have been suffering here for what seemed like forever without seeing any light of day. Hmph, like if this land sees any light of day anyway... In any case, please hurry up before we're found out!"

"Okay okay, I'm on it," I answered, entering the jail and going to release Raspberry's arm from the chain, when I realized something strange and stopped.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and release us!" Raspberry said.

"You're not Raspberry... You, both of you are fakes..." I said.

"How could you say that? Of course we are real! The ones above are the fakes! They confuse you and ruin your feelings!" Raspberry shouted.

"If you have been here since the time after all of us were knocked unconscious, you should not have known that Land of Dreams never sees the light of day. But you knew..." I said. "Then, you just said that the fakes ruin my feelings. How did you know that I just had a dispute with fake Raspberry this day?"

"It was just assumptions. You can't just mistake us from those points!" Raspberry said, seemed upset.

"Lastly, somehow in Dream Fairy Fields, my voice became high-pitched, and so did Raspberry and Lemon I met today. However..." I said.

"What's with that? Our voice are high-pitched as well now!" Raspberry interrupted.

"Now that is the proof. Somehow my voice came back to normal from the time I entered the dungeon, while your voice is still high-pitched," I said, which seemed to struck Raspberry directly. "You two are not my friends. You are stray nightmares!"

The last sentence I said made the two fakes transformed into two giant bats, which then charged towards me. However, they suddenly transformed into beautiful butterflies and faded away leaving some light glitters before completely disappeared. I looked behind and saw Raspberry, along with Lemon.

"Are you okay, Blackberry?" Raspberry asked, with her voice back to normal like me.

"Yes, I'm fine," I answered.

"Glad that I still can do that," She said. "Changing nightmares into good dreams... I thought we needed a dream fairy for that as well,"

"Let's get out of here," Lemon said, also with her voice back to normal like me.

All three of us walked through the tiring upward staircase with some conversations along the way. Also, we realized that the higher we went, our voice gradually became high-pitched again.

"By the way, how did you find me here?" I asked.

"Well, I wanted to apologize for what happened last time, so I went to your room. However, I couldn't find you there and anywhere around. Then I remember you showing some interest to that door so I went there, also meeting Lemon on the way. When we arrived, we saw the door left open so we entered and... you know what happened next," Raspberry answered. "Yeah, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. You didn't mean to do that, you only wanted to help us,"

"It's okay," I said.

We finally arrived at the door, but what awaited us behind the door was something we did not expect at all. Many dream fairies were waiting in front of the door with unpleasant expressions. Mary was among them and stepped forward.

"You three have trespassed a forbidden area. According to Article 4A paragraph 33, anyone who enters the abandoned dungeon has to be brought to Her Majesty to be given a sanction," Mary said. "I'm sorry, but we have to stick to the rules,"

"Another silly rule..." Raspberry muttered. "Like we have any choice anyway,"

So, the three of us were brought to the throne room where the Dream Fairy Queen would decide the punishment for us. As we all stood in front of her throne, she opened her mouth and began speaking.

"Raise your face and look at my eyes, my dear guests!" The Queen spoke. "I have heard the words that you have trespassed the forbidden area. For that a heavy punishment is inevitable!"

"Please leave my friends alone, Your Majesty. I will take all the blame. It was all my fault that I was foolish enough to be tricked into entering that place. They only helped me," I spoke to the Queen.

"No, Blackberry. You can't do that!" Raspberry said.

"I'm the one who dragged you two into all this trouble, so I'm the one to take all the blame," I said.

"Silence, my dear guests. No matter what happened down there, all three of you have trespassed the forbidden area. For that, all three of you will be given the same punishment which is..." The Queen spoke.

All three of us stood in silence, waiting for any words that would come out next.

"A permanent exile to The Awake Realms," The Queen spoke with a warm smile.

At first, we didn't understand what the smile meant, but we suddenly did. Awake Realms was our home, and that meant we would be home again soon. Expression of happiness came to our faces, and the Queen seemed to notice that.

"Now go to the Dream Fairy Fields' main gate. I will meet you there to exile you all personally," The Queen spoke again, and we obeyed with pleasure.

After we left the throne room, something happened without any of us knowing. The two butterflies which had disappeared from the dungeon appeared on each side of the Queen. Then, each of them transformed into a dream fairy. Both of them were themed around orange color.

"I thank both of you for your service, Daisy Dawn and Diana Dusk," The Queen spoke.

"I'm glad to be of service, Your Majesty," Both of the dream fairies answered at the same time.

"I'm sorry that you had to do such chore, but that was the only way so they all can go home. I blame myself for this, on one side I know that they are not happy here, but on the other hand I have to stick to the rules I have made myself," The Queen spoke.

"It was not a problem, Your Majesty. All we did was just giving two fake visions in the boy's dream, attracting his feeling towards the dungeon, and a disguise play to buy some time for some random fairy to find out that someone has entered the dungeon," Daisy answered.

"Although, we actually planned him to release us and get found out by others at the entrance. I didn't think that the boy could be that critical. It was my fault though, for giving away that one point," Diana continued.

"Two actually, and also another one since we didn't know the dungeon somehow returned their voice back to normal. In the end we only could improvise and adapt with his words. It became a game of chance, but fortunately it still ended up in our favor," Daisy said.

"Indeed. Not only they are now able to go home, the friendship between the boy and the girl has been restored as well. A happy ending for everyone, what could have been better?" Diana said.

"All right. Now I have to go and exile them personally. Once again I thank you both for your exellent service, and I hope you will continue to do more in the future," The Queen said.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Daisy and Diana answered at the same time as the Queen walked away from the throne room.

Shortly after all three of us arrived at the main gate, the Queen arrived there as well with many other dream fairies. While waving her magic wand, she also spoke some more words, "We will surely miss you all, my dear guests. Have a safe journey in your exile,". And then we disappeared before all of the dream fairies' eyes.

"I will surely miss them. Too bad they never get to know Daisy and Diana because of this scheme Your Majesty have made with them," Mary said.

"Oh, you know it? Glad I did not make you chief for nothing," The Queen said with a smile. "The same with Daisy and Diana as well. All three of you has shown great performance,"

"I am honored to hear that, Your Majesty," Mary answered.

"Although it was your fault that their friendship was ruined at the first place. All right, get back to works, everyone!" The Queen said her words and Dream Fairy Fields went back to its usual activity.

We reappeared inside my Falcon, which was parked right behind my house. It seemed like everything that happened was just a dream, but this time we all knew that it had been real.

"It seems that Mary was right about the magic being not usable twice, huh?" Raspberry said.

"Yes, it seems so," I answered.

We got off Falcon and walked to the front of my house.

"I guess it's time for us to go back home," Raspberry said.

"It is?" Lemon asked.

"Well, you can decide for yourself. I have been thinking about it. Our friendship became overprotection because of one reason or another. I cannot let the overprotection continue, it is not good for the future of us both." Raspberry answered. "And Blackberry, I also want to apologize for even thinking that you distrust me. I don't know what was in my mind back then,"

"I understand, Raspberry. I thank you for being a nice friend, and I hope we will still continue to be friends," Lemon answered.

"It is fine, Raspberry. It was me myself who was too timid that it came to your mind, and I will learn to get rid of that," I answered, and then the three of us had a big group hug.

-End of Chapter 7. For real this time-

Referenced episode: None


	11. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Cake Contest

"Time flies," I thought, looking at the falling yellow leaves outside the window. Fall season had come, and that meant my house would become visible again since the leaves which had been covering my house would all fall down. That was good since it meant my friends will have easier time finding my house. It did not matter much though, since I had put a mail box in front of my house a few days after the adventure on Dream Fairy Fields, just for a "Blackberry's house is here" sign. I was sure that there would be no mail coming.

I was sure of that until one day I saw the little flag pointing up, which meant a letter had come. I opened the mail box and saw that there was indeed a letter inside. I went back inside, opened the letter, read it, and realized that the letter was from Strawberry. It was an invitation for a camping trip, and that made me had a mixed feelings. I'd love to have an activity together with them, but at the same time I was not an outdoor boy. I couldn't even properly fill a backpack, let alone setting a tent up. Knowing that the day of the trip was the next day confused me even more, because that meant there was not much time to think.

While I was still confused, someone rang my doorbell. I went out and saw that it was Raspberry who rang the bell, and Lemon was with her as well.

"Hey, Blackberry. Did you receive the letter?" Raspberry asked as I came down the ladder.

"The camping invitation from Strawberry?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Yes, I received it. How about you two?" I asked back.

"We received it as well, but probably both of us won't come," Raspberry replied.

"Oh, how come?" I asked again.

"Actually, both of us had planned to go to Chocolate Town tomorrow," Lemon answered.

"Chocolate Town?" I said, wondering.

"Haven't been outdoor much, have you? Chocolate Town is a place where everything is made of chocolate. Roads, buildings, fences, furnitures, literally everything," Raspberry said.

"Yeah... Okay... So what are you two going to do there?" I asked while trying to imagine what Raspberry had said.

"In two days there will be a cake contest in Upper Hat Rack. We're going to participate there, but we ran out of chocolate for one of the ingredients so tomorrow we will go there to get some," Raspberry answered.

"Although, now there is one more problem," Lemon addressed.

"Yeah, the rules say we need a group of three to participate. We intended to ask Angel Cake since she is good at this, but... Hey, how about YOU?!" Raspberry continued.

"Huh? Me? No way, I can't even cook anything," I replied.

"What you have been eating? Only plain berries? In any case, it does not matter. The two of us will do all the work, and you can just watch," Raspberry said.

Raspberry was right in her first part. I had been only eating blackberries I had picked right from the bushes and nothing else, which was pretty embarassing if I thought about it. Although I didn't know if Huck could cook or not since plain huckleberries had been all the food he had given to me so far.

"Well okay if you say so. Then we have to inform Strawberry that we won't be in her camping event, otherwise she'll be left wondering," I said.

"That's what we're going to do," Raspberry replied, and then the three of us went towards Strawberry's house.

In the middle of the trip, I saw Huck passing by on his skateboard. Because I wanted to talk a little with him, I told Raspberry and Lemon to go on ahead, and I approached Huck.

"Hey, Blackberry," Huck greeted. "Are you going with us tomorrow?"

"You can't expect someone who cannot properly fill his backpack and set up his tent to come along, can you?" I replied with a little giggle.

"No worries about that. I can't do well in either as well," Huck answered, which surprised me. "Being together is all that matters. So, are you coming tomorrow?"

I explained about my plan with Raspberry and Lemon. He understood and wished me luck in the contest, which I didn't really need anyway since I wouldn't be the one cooking. After that I went to Strawberry's house, in which Raspberry and Lemon were there already.

"Hi, Blackberry," Strawberry greeted. "I have heard about your absence tomorrow from Raspberry and Lemon. I wish all three of you luck for the contest,"

"Thank you, Strawberry," The three of us answered at the same time, and then from the inside we heard Apple's voice.

"Strawberry, read story," Apple said from inside the house. Strawberry said goodbye to us and went back into the house.

"Okay. Now that it's settled, let's start collecting the ingredients," Raspberry said as we walk.

"What are you going to make for the contest by the way?" I asked.

"Do you think I have my name for nothing?" Raspberry asked back. "I'm going to make a torte,"

"Torte...? What is that?" I asked with confused face.

"Just wait and see it in the contest day. In any case, today we will get sugar and flour and tomorrow we will go for the chocolate and colorings. The rest is already in my house," Raspberry replied.

"Why taking so long for collecting them? I thought we can get them all in one day," I asked.

Raspberry sighed and said, "Lemon, answer that for me. I'm out of breath..."

"We can get all in one day from one place, but what we need is the best of each kind. The best chocolate is from Chocolate Town, the best flour is from Upper Truffle, the best sugar is from Lower Lollipop, the best..." Lemon said.

"I see, I see. That means we need to go quite a distance right?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, you see. From here it will take hours to go to Lower Lollipop, and then Upper Truffle is located on the opposite side of Strawberryland..." Raspberry said.

"Hey... did you two forget THIS?" I interrupted with a smile, showing them a remote I had been keeping inside my pocket. The two girls stared at the remote for some seconds until they showed me a happily surprised face. I noticed that, pressed one button, and a few seconds later Falcon came landing besides us.

"All aboard," I said, and the two girls went inside. I followed them and sat on the pilot seat.

"Where are we going first?" I asked.

"Lower Lollipop, please," Lemon answered.

"Next stop, Lower Lollipop. Fasten your seatbelts and we're ready to go," I said, and then we arrived at Lower Lollipop... three hours later. As we stood in front of the Lower Lollipop's gate, Raspberry seemed upset.

"Why didn't you tell us first that you didn't know where Lower Lollipop was?" She grumbled. "You have wasted time bringing us all the way to Tangerine Bosque and back here again,"

I blushed and said, "Well, sorry. I thought just flying southwards would have done the job,"

"Now the time it took to get us here is the same as if we had walked..." Raspberry said with a little facepalm, and giggled afterwards. "Quite silly, don't you think?" She said, and all of us laughed.

It didn't take long for us to get the sugar we needed. In just less than ten minutes later all of us were already inside Falcon again.

"Next is Upper Truffle, right?" I asked.

"Yes, it is north of here," Lemon answered.

"But don't take us all the way to Holidayland this time. It's empty now anyway because now is not winter yet," Raspberry warned, and then we flew northwards slower than when we had flown towards Lower Lollipop.

"By the way, for someone who hasn't been living here for that long, you two know quite alot about Strawberryland," I said.

"It does not take years to know those. You only need to go out more," Raspberry answered, which struck me directly.

We arrived safely and got the flour we needed without any trouble. However, the day started to get dark so we had no choice but to call it a day and continue the collecting at the next day.

"In the end, this flying vehicle didn't help us to collect the ingredients faster," Raspberry said.

"At least we didn't have to walk," Lemon said. "For that we thank you, Blackberry,"

We landed behind my house and then each of the two girls went away to her home. I spent the rest of the day attempting to invent new devices, and finally went to sleep at bed time.

At the next day, we collected the chocolate we needed from Chocolate Town without any trouble because a kind brown bunny helped us by pointing the way to a pot at the end of a rainbow, which contained an infinite amount of chocolate coins.

"Take as many as you like, just like how that pigtail haired girl in blue hat usually does," The bunny said.

"That must be Ginger Snap," I addressed as we all took some of the coins.

The colorings didn't gave us any trouble as well. We simply just squeezed some of the sponge cakes which grew from sponge cake trees in the Sponge Cake Forest.

"All right. Now that we have all the ingredients, it's time to practice," Raspberry said as we walked away from Sponge Cake Forest. "Your house has a kitchen, right Blackberry?"

"Umm, yes. Why is that?" I asked.

"If you don't mind we want to use your kitchen for practising. Especially that your house is the closest from here," Raspberry said.

"I don't mind. It has never been used anyway," I answered.

Nothing special happened afterwards. All of us spent the rest of the day practising, including me even though I wouldn't have to make anything at the next day, but just in case they taught me to bake my own blackberry tart. I also got the better part of the deal because that night I became the one in charge for tasting what both the girl had made.

"Great! Even if we don't win, this will not be an embarassment for sure!" I said after tasting Raspberry's torte and Lemon's meringue pie.

"And your blackberry tart isn't that bad. Still needs some things but this is already fair enough," Raspberry commented.

"You need more practice, but it is already late and we have to spare the remaining ingredients for tomorrow," Lemon added, and later the two girls went home.

At bedtime, before I fell asleep I thought about a conversation that happened during the practice we had done...

_"I actually wonder why you want to participate in this contest?" I asked_  
_  
"Umm.. Well..." Raspberry said, hesitating to speak._  
_  
"It's fine if you don't want to tell," I said._  
_  
"No, I'll tell you," she said. "Do you know the details of my adventure in Land of Dreams with Strawberry?"_  
_  
"Well, no actually," I said._  
_  
"There was one occasion where the situation was near hopeless, and Strawberry fell into despair," she said._  
_  
"And she sang a sad song about how silly it was to be a dreamer," Lemon added._  
_  
"Oh..." I said._  
_  
"Everyone cheered her up to make her regain her spirit," she said._  
_  
"Everyone... except me," Raspberry said._  
_  
"Oh, how come?" I asked._

_"I was as desperate as her at that time. Maybe even more. I wanted to cheer her up as well but... I was out of words," she said._

_"I see..." I said._

_"I want to apologize to her for that, but I feel that words alone will not do," she said._

"So Raspberry came with an idea of Cake of Apology," Lemon said.  
_  
"Strawberry is very good at making cakes, and I'm sure she will win if she participates in this contest," Raspberry said._  
_  
"Let me guess. If you win this contest then you can be sure that your cake is worth giving to Strawberry. Am I right?" I said._  
_  
"That's right," she said._

I thought that her method was not wrong, but I felt that she didn't have to do that. I knew that Strawberry didn't need that much of doing for apologizing. I didn't even think that Raspberry needed to apologize at all. But of course I couldn't stop a good intention so I let it by and went to sleep.

At the next day, which was the contest day, we went to the cake contest and participated in it. All of us, me included because I wanted it, made the best cake we could make. It all went well, and then later the winner announcement began. All of us waited with quite an anxiety until the judges announced the winner.

Later, we were on the way home. Our feelings were quite mixed.

"And so... We didn't win," Raspberry said.

"At least our team got the second place," I said, trying to cheer her up. "But yeah, I'm sorry about that,"

"It was me who didn't read the regulations well," Raspberry said. "I didn't realize that the final score is the average of all the team's cakes if the team make more than one,"

"But still, it was because my cake was not good enough. I shouldn't have made that cake," I said.

"It's fine," she said with a sigh. "I also didn't notice that the regulations actually require each participant to be a team up to three, not exactly three. No wonder some other teams consisted of only one or two persons,"

"The winner was a single-member team. She must be very good at it," Lemon said.

"Ah, the girl in blue with blueberry ornament on her hat," I remembered. "I have a feeling this won't be the last time we see her,"

"And hear more of her absoloo-ootely talk? I'll pass on that," Raspberry commented.

"By the way, what was the prize for the winner?" I asked.

"Books. Lots of them. Not for me obviously," Raspberry answered.

"Not for me either," Lemon added.

"And not for me as well," I said. "Let's just hope that girl is quite a wormbook so she won't throw them away,"

All of us gigled after my last line, and then I remembered about Raspberry's Cake of Apology so I asked her a question.

"By the way, will you give Strawberry that Cake of Apology?" I asked.

"Nah, screw it. I didn't win after all," She answered.

"But..." I said before Raspberry interrupted.

"Yeah I know what you are going to say. However, that is not the real reason," She said, knocking fences with a branch. "Last night I thought about what will happen if I give her that cake. From her attitude she will probably say that she does not need such thing for an apology, and she will also say that I don't need to apologize at all. You have known her for longer than me, Blackberry, so I suppose we have the same thinking. Thus, I think I will just bring that cake when Strawberry has an event going,"

"You hit me on the spot," I replied agreeing with her, and so our day ended.

At the next day, I thought about Raspberry's words of me having to go out more. I thought that she was right so for that day I decided to have a walk around Strawberryland, testing my new device as well in the process. I went out of my house and walked towards the back side of Blackberry Bushes instead of Huckleberry Briar which I had been usually doing before. The device I named Swallow's Flight worked out really well. With it attached to my shirt like a badge, my body became much lighter that I could run very fast and jump very high.

While I was having fun with my lighter body, I noticed something at a distance. It was an old abandoned house on top of a small hill. The shape of the house was a little bit similar to a muffin, if only it was much cleaner. I landed right in front of the house and observed it for a moment until someone greeted me from behind.

"Hi there," The voice said. I looked behind and saw that the voice came from the girl who won the cake contest.

"Hi, you are... the contest winner," I said.

"The name is Blueberry Muffin. Nice to meet you," She said.

"I'm Blackberry Bun," I said, offering a handshake which she accepted. "What are you doing here?"

"I just loooove old houses and I see this one looking sad and abandoned so now I'm asking myself if I can make this place look great," She replied with joy.

"And have you gotten the answer?" I asked.

"Absoloo-ootely yes!" She answered. "I'm going to fix this house and live here,"

"Where have you been living before?" I asked.

"Upper Hat Rack, in a small room I have been renting. My stuffs are still there and I'm going to move them here as well," She answered.

"I will help you," I offered, and she seemed happy to hear that.

So, for the next few hours both of us were busy moving Blueberry's stuffs from her old place to the soon-to-be her new house, and I got to know her pet mouse Cheesecake as well. We finally managed to move all the stuffs when it was already dark. Blueberry lit a candle so we still could see inside the house. We worked on the house some more until some light entered the house from a window.

"What was that light?" Blueberry asked, still walking around moving some stuffs.

"I have no idea," I answered, checking outside a window and saw nothing at all at the source of the light because of some fog. But then, the light went off and I heard a scream, which slowly faded away.

"Now what was that scream...? Sounds like a scream of fear," I remarked, and both of us went outside to check.

"I see nothing weird," Blueberry said, and both of us went back inside.

Later, I realized that I had to go home because of bedtime so I wished her goodbye and said that I would come tomorrow to help her again. She agreed and I went home.

On the way home, I noticed that I still had Swallow's Flight on my shirt but I didn't feel any effect from it. At first I thought that it broke down or ran out of energy, but then a bad feeling came to me.

When I was finally inside my house, I lied down on my bed preparing my mind for the worst case, and took the badge off my shirt. My bad feeling came out to be true. My body suddenly felt so heavy that I could barely move. It was caused by the body adapting to the badge, and ended up becoming dependant on it. I had no other choice besides going to sleep and hoping that my body would re-adapt when I woke up.

At the next day, I woke up quite late that the sun was already high. My body had mostly re-adapted but still felt quite heavy. I decided to go to Blueberry's place anyway because I had promised, and when I got there I saw that the house had been cleaned up.

"Did Blueberry do this herself?" I wondered and went to the front door. When I opened the door I saw not only Blueberry but also Strawberry, Orange, Angel, Ginger, and Huck. They were eating muffins together.

"Hi, Blackberry!" Strawberry greeted me.

"Oh... Hi," I replied.

"This morning these absoloo-ootely nice friends came and helped me in the works. I am very grateful," Blueberry said.

"You're berry welcome, Blueberry. Come and join us, Blackberry. We could use one more slot," Strawberry said.

I agreed and joined the crowd. We had a nice conversation with each other and in the end all of us had a toast.

"To new friends!" Strawberry said.

"New friends!" All of us cheered.

-End of Chapter 8-

Referenced episode: Ginger Snap's No Light Night of Fright + The Blueberry Beast, both are the episodes from Moonlight Mysteries DVD


	12. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: First Snow at Winter

Winter had come. All the leaves covering my house had fallen, completely leaving my house visible from the outside. The first snow had fallen as well, making the grounds covered with it. I walked out of my house in my winter outfit, which actually was just double jackets on top of my normal outfit plus a fur hat. I then felt the cold weather which I didn't really like. I looked towards my house and once again I saw the not-so-rare sight that reveals my house having the shape of a giant blackberry in the middle of the tree's branches.

I walked towards Huck's fort because right before the arrival of winter he had promised to teach me to ice-skate on this day. He had said that ice-skating was not much different from using in-line-skate, which I could do fairly well. However, whenever I imagined that ice-skating is done on slippery ice and with sharp blades replacing the wheels, my confidence dropped to nothing. Thus, Huck promised this plan.

After I had arrived inside Huck's fort, I saw him preparing two pairs of ice skate for both of us.

"Hi, Huck," I greeted.

"Hi, Blackberry. Nice outfit you got there," He replied and commented on my winter outfit.

"And you too," I answered, although I noticed his winter outfit was only a green jacket on top of his normal outfit.

"Nah, this is nothing compared to what Strawberry and the others have," he said. "They completely changed their clothes,"

"Really? I'd like to see them," I said eagerly.

"They won't wear those often though," He continued. "Those outfits are too good in repelling cold weather. They will only wear those when the weather is very cold, like today's weather is,"

"And then once the weather becomes warmer, what will they wear?" I asked.

"Just the usual outfit, except for Strawberry. She will wear a red jacket on top of her usual outfit when outside," he answered.

"You sure know a lot of things," I commented.

"Now that you mention it, I myself wonder why I know those. We have been friends for only half a year, but sometimes I feel it has been longer," He answered.

I actually knew the answer to his wondering, but I felt there was no need to tell him about my trip to the past with Time Remote which caused a memory loss to every Strawberryland residents. It seemed that some memories were kept under their consciousness, which might cause something like what just happened.

"Anyway, let's go to the pond now. It's almost midday, and I bet they are already there since some while ago," He said.

We went to the pond where everyone else were supposed to be, but when we arrived there was nobody there.

"Ah, I think we are too late. Everybody has gone for a lunch break already," He said. "But we still can start anyway. Put your skates on, Blackberry,"

"This is even better for me. I will easily lose confidence if there are other people around," I said, putting on my skates.

"I see. Okay, now that you have put your skates on, come over here," Huck said.

"I'm coming..." I answered with a little bit of fright.

I slowly walked to the surface of the frozen pond. When I stepped on the edge, I became afraid and couldn't move my legs. Huck was already on the surface, trying to convince me to step in, but I was already defeated by my lack of courage.

"Here, take my hand," Huck said, offering his right hand.

"O.. Okay.." I answered, reaching to get a grip on his hand. Then he suddenly pulled me over to the surface, causing my fall.

"Sorry, I thought you need a little push," He said, and then helped me to stand up. "You said you could use in-line-skate right? Now try to do the same,"

Both of us spent the next few hours without significant result. I finally could do a few basic movements, but I still fell down from time to time.

"You're getting better, I believe you will get the hang of it soon," Huck commented.

"Thanks, but I still feel this will take forever," I answered, suddenly noticing a girl I had never seen before. "Hey, do you know who that girl is?"

"Hmm, no. I have never seen her before," Huck answered, looking at the girl, who was crossing the bridge above the pond without looking at us. "Want to check on her?"

"I'd like to, but look at me now," I said, reminding Huck that I was still in the middle of the pond. "Moving out of the pond and changing my shoes will take too long,"

"Oh... indeed... In any case, we should call it a day now," He said. "Do you want to visit Strawberry before going home?"

"Yes, I'd like to," I answered, and then we walked to Strawberry's house.

When we arrived, Strawberry greeted us and we had some talks with her inside. There we learned about the new girl with the name Apricot, and her home being a 40-room castle. Although, I felt I couldn't trust that statement. I had seen the whole Strawberryland with my Eagle Eye and I had never seen a castle or such. But I didn't feel the need to tell that to everyone else so I kept silent.

At the next day, Huck came to my house asking if I wanted him to teach me again for the day. Because I was watching the Eagle Eye monitor and didn't notice him asking, I didn't give any reply at all. Then he came closer to me.

"Watching something good?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm watching the girls' ice dance performance. Their skills really make me envy them," I answered. "Look, especially Strawberry. I only can dream being able to do something like that,"

"I heard she had trained for a really long time," Huck said.

I saw that Apricot was there too, boasting on how she could do all the moves easily. Then I also saw Strawberry's too-generous attitude of giving away the position as the main star of the upcoming ice show.

"Huck, do you agree with me that Strawberry has had too many generosity pills?" I said.

"Well, kinda. But that's the way Strawberry is, and with that she makes a lot of friends," Huck answered.

"Now look at Apricot's face. I won't be surprised if at the D-Day she pretends to have a twisted ankle or such," I commented. "Anyway, I don't feel like training today, with that many people around,"

"Well, there is another place if you want to train alone," Huck said.

"Really? Where is it?" I asked.

"It's right there," He answered, pointing at a lake visible from my window quite far away. "Punch Bowl Pond is the name,"

So, both me and Huck spent the rest of the day training at Punch Bowl Pond. Unlike the pond where I trained the day before, Punch Bowl Pond's water was pink and slightly more slippery, which made it more difficult to skate on. That was actually good because once I got used to it I would have easier time skating on the usual pond. We also spent the whole next day training there until it was almost dark. I knew that the day after would be the D-Day of the ice show so I decided to visit Strawberry at her house. Huck was already too tired so he went home while I went to visit Strawberry by myself.

It was already dark when I arrived at Strawberry's house. I knocked on the door but there was no reply. At first I thought she hadn't arrived home yet, and then suddenly I heard a greet from behind.

"Hi, Blackberry," the voice said. I turned around and saw that it was Strawberry herself.

"Hi, Strawberry. I know that tomorrow is the day of the ice show so I decided to give you a visit tonight, if you don't mind," I said.

"Why should I? Please come in!" She replied with smile. "Come on, Custard, Pupcake... Hey, where are they?"

"Your pets are missing? Do you want to go looking for them? I'll help too," I said.

"No, I don't think it is needed. They will be fine," She replied.

"Well, if you are so sure, then fine," I said.

Inside her house, we had a conversation on how everyone were eager to seeing the show, how well the rehearsals were done, and also about Apricot.

"You know, Strawberry. I won't be surprised if tomorrow she comes with twisted ankle or such, pretending of course," I said.

"Don't be silly, Blackberry. You have to give her a chance, and you'll come to like her," She replied with her usual smile.

"Heh, you all can be too trusting sometimes, but that's what I like from you all," I commented. Then, suddenly the front door opened and both of Strawberry's pets came in.

"Come with us, Strawberry. There's something you have to see," Custard said. "Oh, Blackberry is here as well?"

"What is it, Custard?" Strawberry asked.

"It's Apricot. We just found out where she actually lives, and it's not a castle!" Custard answered.

"Oh... Okay... Do you want to come with us, Blackberry?" Strawberry asked.

"No, I will go home now. It's almost bed time," I answered as Custard and Pupcake went out of the house.

"Promise me not to tell anyone about this okay?" she said.

"I see, you want to wait until she tells us herself right? Don't worry, I will keep silent," I answered and went home.

After I arrived home, I felt so tired and went to bed right away. Then at the next day I woke up and realized that I had overslept. I hurried to the pond although I knew that I have already missed the ice show. Midway I met Huck who apparently had overslept too, then it became two people hurrying towards the pond.

When we arrived, we saw everyone including Apricot laughing together in the middle of the pond. It seemed like we indeed were too late. I approached them anyway as they moved to the edge.

"Hi, Strawberry. It seems... it is too late for me, isn't it?" I asked with my breath running out.

"Yep, you're late. Sure you do," Ginger said.

"Oh well, what's done is done," I said. "It was my own fault anyway because I overslept,"

"Well, sounds like a sign for an encore, isn't it?" Strawberry said to the others.

"Yep it sure is," Ginger said.

"No no no, don't bother doing that just for the two of us," I said. "It doesn't feel right,"

"It is fine, Blackberry, and it won't be just for you. Look at our spectators," Strawberry said with a giggle, and I looked towards the spectators repeatedly yelling `Encore!`. Thus, the ice show was repeated and all of us had a wonderful time.

-End of chapter 9-

Referenced episode: Let's Dance. The first episode of Let's Dance DVD. The episode is also known as Meet Apricot.


	13. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Gift in Hearts

Days passed after the ice show day, and Christmas was getting near. In fact, the next day would be the Christmas day. The weather also somehow became warmer than usual in the last few days although snow still covered the land. I wanted to give all my friends a present, but I had no idea what to give and where to get the presents. So, I decided to go to Blueberry's place and ask for advices. The trip to Blueberry Valley was not so easy because of the snowy terrain, but I still managed to arrive there anyway because of my new device. Blueberry was home and warmly welcomed me. Inside her house I told her about my intention.

"Well, you know..." she said with a brief pause. "We have the same exact thinking."

"So, do you know where we should go and what to get?" I asked.

"Well, to get Christmas presents, there's always Holidayland," She answered.

"Holidayland? Raspberry mentioned that name before. What is that place?" I said.

"It's an absoloo-tely perfect place to get presents for Christmas, that's all I can say," She answered.

"Then let's go there right away," I said.

"The thing is, that place is quite far and the snowy terrain doesn't make the trip any easier," She said.

"Well, didn't you notice how I came here?" I said. "Come outside."

Both of us went outside and then she saw the new device I had made a few days before, which was a snowmobile.

"This is Arrowhead. It can run through snowy terrain without much trouble. It has seats for two people so you can go there with me," I said.

"Wow, you are absoloo-tely amazing!" She commented, which made me blushed.

"Not really. It's just an ordinary snowmobile after all," I replied. "Anyway, shall we go?"

"Yes, of course. I'll get my warm clothes and we're ready to go!" She replied, going inside the house and came back out again shortly after. "I also brought some berries and books with me. Did I mention that we must have something to trade if we want to get anything?"

"Well, no. That means I have to go home first and take some things. Here, have the helmet," I said, giving her a helmet as I wore mine, and we set off to my home and then Holidayland.

The trip back to my home and to Holidayland was quite smooth and we arrived in Holidayland without much trouble. The town itself amazed me because the people living there are mostly dwarves with colored skin, with some living puppets and fairies accompanying as well. However, we had no time to waste so we entered a shop and see if we could find something. Once we were inside, suddenly a purple fairy appeared and greeted us.

"Welcome to Sugar Plumdales. Can I help you?" The fairy asked kindly. "But first, have a plum," she continued, magically made two plums and gave them to us both. I ate one and commented on how good the plum was.

"I'm not called the Sugar Plum Fairy for nothing. So tell me how I can help you," She said.

"We're looking for a present for our friends," I answered.

"Hmm, tell me about them," She asked.

"Well, there's Strawberry Shortcake..." I said before the fairy interrupted.

"Wait, is there by chance someone named Orange Blossom among your friends?" She said.

"Yes, how did you know?" I asked.

"Yesterday a girl in strawberry hat traded a sugarplum bush for a friend with that name. Hearing the name you just mentioned made me remember," She replied.

"Oh... that means we cannot trade for that one," I said.

"Why not?" Blueberry asked.

"I can't give the same present. That won't feel right. Let's see if we can find another thing here," I answered.

In the end, we didn't find anything in that shop. However, I gave the fairy some of the berries I had brought from home anyway in exchange for her patronage. Then we went through the town and arrived at a place named Candy Cane Mart. Inside I got the information that Strawberry had been there as well and had gone bringing a lot of candy canes and cookie cutters, as well as a wagon. That meant there was nothing we could get from there as well.

We proceeded again and arrived at a place named Holy Woods. In there an angel greeted us and once again I got to know that Strawberry had been there as well and had gone bringing all the wood could offer. Both of us then went from the wood in disappointment.

"Now this is what I call progress. Nothing at all for hours," I said.

"Well, we can try going to the northern outskirts but... that place is not so safe," Blueberry said.

"Still better than going home with empty hands," I said, driving Arrowhead towards the northern outskirts.

The northern outskirts was indeed not as safe as the previous places. The snow there were somewhat more slippery, and to make it worse there were steep slopes and crevices. I tried not to fall into any of those, but the windy weather and the dark night sky didn't make it any easier.

"*Sigh* I guess we have no choice but to go back with empty hands..." I said.

"I guess so... Watch out!" Blueberry yelled, warning me about a crevice ahead which I didn't notice. However, it was too late and both of us fell deep into the crevice.

Both of us didn't know how long we had been unconscious. When I woke up, I looked around and saw that Blueberry was still unconscious near me. I shook her body trying to wake her up.

"Blueberry! Wake up!" I said.

"Ugh... Blackberry? Where are we...?" She replied slowly.

"We fell into a crevice and it seems we are now at the bottom of it. Are you all right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess..." She replied.

"Now we should try to find a way out," I said while looking around.

The place where we ended up was narrow and quite dark, but I could see the sky far above which was bright blue. That meant it was already Christmas day and we were too late. However, I put that aside because the main thing at that time was to find a way out.

"Blackberry... I can't move my legs," Blueberry said. I looked to her legs and noticed that her legs were stuck under broken Arrowhead. I tried to move it aside but it was no use because it was very heavy. I kept trying but it was futile, until I heard a voice.

"Let me help," The voice said.

I looked at the source and found that the voice came from a reindeer with purple tail.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"The name is Ralph. Let's move this thing together," he answered.

With Ralph's help, I finally managed to move Arrowhead aside. Arrowhead indeed had become broken because of the fall.

"Can you stand up?" Ralph asked Blueberry, who then tried to stand up but with no success.

"Ugh... I think I have a twisted ankle," She said, holding her left leg.

"Mount her on my back," Ralph said to me, which I did right away.

"Do you know the way out of this crevice?" I asked.

"If I had known I would have gone away from this place since ages ago," Ralph replied. "I have been living under this crevice for months, or maybe years?"

"What? How did you survive here for that long?" I said.

"Me as a purple-tailed reindeer does not need any food to live. For drink I can eat snow and let them melt in my mouth," Ralph replied.

"Oh... That means me and Blueberry won't last for long..." I said with a deep sigh of despair, but I saw that Blueberry was still calm. "Hey, Blueberry. How come you are still calm in this situation?" I asked.

"No worries, Blackberry. Have you read about another special ability of a purple-tailed reindeer?" She said.

"Well, no," I answered. "What is it?"

"If it swallows one purple hair from the tail, it can fly for the next one minute," She answered. "More than enough for us to get out,"

"Indeed. I know about that and have tried several times to bite my own tail, but with no success at all," Ralph replied. "Pull one hair from my tail and feed it to me. With that I can get you all out of here,"

So, Blueberry pulled one hair off Ralph's tail and fed it to Ralph. I then mounted on Ralph as well and he flew upwards and out of the deep crevice.

"Finally I'm out of that place after this long time," Ralph said as he landed on ground. "And it was all thanks to both of you,"

"Don't mention it. We met because both of us fell down there by coincidence anyway," I said.

"By the way, why did you come to this northern outskirts of Holidayland?" Ralph asked. Thus, I told him everything about my intention to give my friends a gift and the misfortune of Strawberry already gotten the same gifts. After hearing those, Ralph offered to give us a ride to a special place in northern outskirts, which I agreed.

Ralph brought us to a house similar to some I had seen in Holidayland. As we entered, we all saw quite a number of dwarves walking around.

"What is this place?" I asked Ralph.

"This is my home. Ho-ho-ho!" A voice answered from behind us. I looked on the source and realized that it was Santa Claus himself.

"Santa! This must be the absoloo-tely luckiest day in my whole life!" Blueberry said.

"Santa! I missed you!" Ralph said.

"Well, well. If it isn't my dearest reindeer Ralph. You have been missing for years! Where have you been?" Santa said.

"I fell into a crevice and today these two kind people helped me," Ralph answered. "I thought you would have known,"

"Even though I am Santa who knows things, there are still some things I don't know, dear. I apologize for my ignorance," Santa said.

"It is fine. Anyway, these two people need your help," Ralph said.

"I'll be glad to help. Now tell me," Santa said, and I told him everything.

"But forget all that. Now my only wish is to bring Blueberry back home safely," I said after that. "She's injured and need immediate treatment,"

"Why should you forget? You already have your gift!" Santa said. "They're all in your heart, and in everyone's heart as well,"

"What? I don't understand," I said.

"You will figure that out soon," Santa replied. "Come with me. I will take both of you home on my sleigh,"

So, me and Blueberry had a ride on Santa's sleigh. The trip back to Strawberryland was the best trip I have ever had in my whole life, and it seemed the same for Blueberry as well. She kept looking at the astonishing scenery we could see from the heights.

"Thank you, Blackberry. This whole trip is absoloo-tely the best gift for me," She said, which rendered me speechless.

We got off right in front of my house. As Santa flew away, I could hear him yelling "Berry Christmas!" with laughter. I then remembered about Blueberry's twisted ankle, which had gotten better but still made walking quite difficult for her.

"Wait here, Blueberry. I will come back soon," I said, going inside my house. Then I came back out bringing Phoenix Tear and then I used it on Blueberry's leg.

"Wow, this is absoloo-tely amazing!" Blueberry said.

Both of us went inside my house. As I put Phoenix Tear to the shelf, I asked Blueberry if she knew about what Santa had meant about my gift. She shook her head, telling that she was actually confused too. Then, suddenly someone knocked on my door. I opened it and saw that the guests were Raspberry, Lemon, Apricot, and also, to my surprise, Peppermint.

"Merry Christmas!" All four of them said, which made me speechless.

"Hey, Custard got your tongue?" Raspberry said.

"Umm... no. It's just that... You all surprised me, really," I answered.

"It's all we could give, actually. We couldn't find any gifts to give," Lemon said.

"Hmph, no luck for me either," Peppermint said.

"Blueberry is here as well, huh? Now that we are all here, why don't we go now to Strawberry's house? I think everyone else are there as well," Raspberry said.

"Yeah, that would be totally cool," Apricot added.

We all agreed and began the trip to Strawberry's house. On the way I kept wondering about what Santa had said about my gift, but since he had said that I would figure it out soon, I didn't bother thinking too much about it because I believed in all his words. Soon I would figure it out.

-End of Chapter 10-

Referenced episode: Berry Merry Christmas DVD.


	14. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Ginger Snap's Dimension Door

Somehow, spring was delayed. Looking at the date it should had been spring already, but snow still covered the land and the weather was still quite cold although still not as cold as the beginning days of winter. For me the delay was a mixed blessing because on one side I didn't like cold weather while on the other side I still had the chance to make use of the new Arrowhead I had remade after the accident at Christmas day. Speaking of which, Santa's words were true. The gift he had spoken about was the gift of friendship, as Strawberry and the others at her home had told me when our group came without any presents.

In any case, because I had nothing else to do at that time, I decided to ride Arrowhead and give some of my friends a visit. At first I wanted to start with Huck's fort but when I arrived there he wasn't home, so I decided to go to Blueberry's place instead. However, all of a sudden, on a distance I saw something flying around. As I observed it I came to realize that it was a fairy in green, although her size was bigger than any other fairies I had seen. I didn't know what she was doing until I realized that the snow around me started to disappear. Arrowhead couldn't run on surfaces other than snow so I had no choice other than driving it home before the snow completely melted.

I arrived home just in time. As I parked Arrowhead right next to Falcon all the snow disappeared completely, which means from that time I had to walk to get anywhere. I lost my intention to go to Blueberry Valley so I went to Strawberry's house instead. For unknown reason I grew tired so quickly on the way, but I kept walking because I was already more than halfway. When I arrived there I saw not only the usual group of five but also Honey Pie Pony and the fairy I had just seen before. My strange exhaustion was nearly unbearable by the time I arrived.

"Hi, Blackberry. Welcome to the planting party!" Strawberry greeted. "Come with us, we could use one more slot."

"Hi, Strawberry. I'm sorry but I can't," I answered. "Somehow I feel so tired just walking from my house to here."

Right after I said that, I suddenly fell down and fainted. That of course surprised everyone else there and caused some panic. I didn't know what happened next, but when I regained some of my consciousness I heard a conversation.

"Is he going to be fine?" Huck asked.

"I don't really know. I don't even know why he suddenly has a fever so high," Strawberry said.

"I have no idea," Orange said.

"Me neither. Yep, no idea at all," Ginger said.

"This reminds me of the days I had spent in the..." Honey Pie said before the next person's words interrupted.

"Spring, do you have any idea?" Angel asked.

"Hmm... Probably because of the sudden change of weather. Some people can't handle that and suddenly get sick. That means it can be my fault..." a voice answered, which probably belonged to the fairy in green.

"It is nobody's fault that this happened. Now the most important thing here is to take care of Blackberry," Strawberry said.

I tried to get up and out of the place they put me on, which was a sofa in Strawberry's living room. They saw me doing that and attempted to stop me.

"No, don't bother. Just let me go home and I will take care of myself," I said.

"There's no way you can walk to your home in this condition," Huck said. "It is fine, just lie down and rest."

"No, I don't want to be everyone's... burden," I said.

"You are not and will never be a burden to us," Strawberry said. "You are our friend, and we help each other especially when there's one in need."

No matter how hard I tried, they kept trying to convince me to rest on Strawberry's bed. In the end, probably because of all the talk, I fainted again. I was lucky that I didn't fell onto the floor because Huck quickly caught me and then carefully put me on the sofa. Later, there was a conversation I didn't hear at all.

"His fever isn't getting any better. We have to do something," Orange said.

"We need a doctor," Angel said.

"But where can we find one? You know, until now none of us has ever gotten sick, am I right? So none of us know where to find a doctor, am I right again?" Ginger said.

"That's true..." Strawberry said.

"This reminds me of the trip I had in..." Honey started to speak until interrupted.

"Come on, Honey. This is not the time to tell about your past adventures," Huck said.

"Hear me out to the very end, will you? I was going to say that I heard about a local doctor when I was walking around Lower Lollipop. That doctor was so good that people say sick patients who come into his workplace will run out jumping around like a horse," Honey said.

"Sounds worth a try," Huck said.

"But Lower Lollipop is far from here. The trip there will probably make Blackberry's condition worse," Orange said.

"I don't think I'm strong enough to carry him all the way there..." Spring said.

"If only there's a way to bring him fast and safely..." Strawberry said.

"We have! We sure do! Huck, you remember that thing don't you?" Ginger said with excitement. "I will go get it. Back in a flash!" She continued, going away.

"Oh yes! I forgot she had made that!" Huck remarked with excitement.

"What is `that`?" Angel asked, wondering.

"Just wait and see," Huck answered.

Just a few minutes later, suddenly a blue vortex appeared in the middle of the room. Everybody except Huck were quite surprised and leapt away from it. Before everyone wondered for long, Ginger jumped out of the vortex and it disappeared.

"Here I am!" She said.

"Ginger?" Orange said, wondering.

"How did you come here?" Strawberry asked.

"This is the newest invention of mine. I named it The Amazing Dimension Door Remote," Ginger answered, showing a device that indeed looked like a remote.

"Hey, you forgot the deal?" Huck said.

"Oh yes. It's name is Dimension Door Remote because Huck asked for it, although the previous name sounds better am I right?" Ginger said.

"Cut all the talk, please! Now how do we use it to bring Blackberry to a doctor?" Angel said.

"It is simple. It sure is. Just type the name of the place we want to go to and then draw a circle with its antenna. Then poof! The dimension door appears, ready to take us to the place we want," Ginger explained. "I will do it right now. I sure will."

Then Ginger typed Lower Lollipop's name on the remote. The remote's antenna then produced some kind of electricity waves. As Ginger waved the remote in a circling movement, the antenna left a trail of electricity which then completed a drawing of a circle once Ginger finished the movement. After that, the circle emitted a bright light and a blue vortex appeared.

"Okay, it's now ready to transport us all the way to Lower Lollipop," Ginger said. "Let's go!"

Then, Huck carried me on his back and we all walked into the vortex Ginger had just made. All of us made it into Lower Lollipop safely and successfully brought me to the doctor in the area. I didn't know what the doctor had done to me and nobody else knew since the doctor, who apparently was a living ginger bread, brought me into his room while everyone else had to wait outside. When I woke up my condition was already much better than before.

"You're awake?" A voice said. "Before you ask anything, I'm a local doctor of Lower Lollipop, and this is my workplace. Your friends brought you here."

I stood up from the bed he had for patients, then I felt that my sudden illness had almost completely gone.

"Your disease was only a reaction to a sudden change of weather. It's not something my magic touch cannot cure in a flash," The doctor said.

"Thank you. How can I repay your service?" I asked.

"No need. You give me a good knowledge anyway, because I actually haven't examined a human before," The doctor said.

"Huh? So who are your patients usually?" I asked with curiosity and also a bad feeling.

"Animals. I am actually a vet," The doctor said.

The doctor's answer made me lose words. My friends had brought me to a vet, a doctor for animals. Of course I knew they probably hadn't known about it, but still, this could become a good laughing stock for years to come.

"You sure have good friends. They all rushed in my workplace and told me to examine you, and I didn't even have time to explain that I am a vet," The doctor said.

"Too good sometimes," I commented and both of us laughed.

When I walked out of the doctor's room, my friends were overjoyed seeing me in a good condition. However, when I told them that the doctor was actually a vet, the joy became a huge laughter. When all of us had our laugh, the doctor came out of his room.

"Kids, I would appreciate it if you could have your laughter outside," he said.

We realized that we were in a place where sick people, animals actually, gathers. We then apologized to the doctor and left his workplace. When we were outside, I remembered something and approached the fairy in green who had been with us.

"We haven't introduced each other properly. I am Blackberry Bun, nice to meet you," I said to her.

"I am Spring, the one who brings spring season to everyone. Nice to meet you too," She replied.

While walking, we had a conversation about her being late in bringing the spring season and in the end I learned the truth. It didn't matter much to me though, because we finally got to enjoy the season after all.

"By the way, who carried me all the way here? I must say thanks for carrying me this far," I asked.

"It was me, but I didn't carry you that far," Huck said. "It all thanks to Ginger's dimension door."

"Dimension door?" I asked, looking at Ginger.

"Here it is! Amazing huh?" Ginger answered, showing a remote to me. Then she typed something on it and drew a circle with its antenna. A blue vortex appeared, surprising me.

"Now's the time to go home, am I right?" Ginger said, jumping into the vortex, followed by everyone else. I believed in her so I jumped in as well, and when I realized it I was already in Strawberry's house along with everyone else.

"Ginger, may I borrow that remote for a while?" I asked.

"Sure! You can use it anytime you want," Ginger answered, handing me the remote.

"Thanks," I said, typing Blackberry Bushes and drawing a circle with the antenna. "See you later all, and thank you for bringing me back to my good health."

I jumped into the vortex that had appeared and ended up right in front of my house. Then I brought the remote in and examined it on my working table. Later I discovered about how the device worked and used the new knowledge to make modifications on the aftermath of Time Remote I had been keeping for so long. The work took three days, and during that time I didn't get to meet anyone at all. In the end I managed to make Time Remote Mark II, which had the same function as the previous Time Remote but also capable of transporting people into a different dimension. All in all, I actually just had copied Ginger's Dimension Door Remote and merged it with my Time Remote, not that special. Another difference was that instead of typed words, it used voice commands to specify the destination.

"Okay, let's try it... Cookie Corners! Ginger Snap's house!" I spoke to the remote and it made a lightning bolt to strike open space one meter in front. The strike produced a purple vortex and I jumped in. Then, I ended up right in front of Ginger's house. Ginger was in the yard and she had seen everything.

"Woow, Blackberry! You surprised me! Yep, you really did!" she said.

"Really? What did you see?" I asked.

"You see, I was sitting here enjoying the sunny day when suddenly a lightning bolt struck right over there three times! One two three! Then a purple thing similar to my dimension door, except that my dimension door is blue y'know, it appeared and poof! You came out of it!" she explained.

"Lightning strikes? I see that I still couldn't control the electricity waves after all. I need to fix it or I will cause heart attack to everyone I visit," I said.

"What is that? You made your own Dimension Door Remote?" she asked.

"Pretty much, except that with this I can travel through time as well," I answered. "The name is Time Remote Mark II."

"Wow, neato!" she remarked.

"I'll try this once more... 10 meters in front!" I spoke to the remote, and a lightning bolt struck from the remote to the ground one meter in front of me. Also, three lightning strikes occured ten meters ahead and two vortexes appeared, one right in front of me and the other at ten meters ahead. All Ginger had said were true after all.

"That will hurt ears. Yep it sure will," Ginger remarked.

"Indeed. I need to fix it soon. Can you help me with it?" I asked.

"I sure do! Please come in!" she answered.

We spent the next few hours attempting to fix the problems of my Time Remote Mark II. After we were done, we tried it out in front of the house. This time, the single strike from the remote was replaced by many small electricity waves, and the triple strike at the destination had completely gone.

"Now that's much better am I right?" she said.

"You sure are," I answered. "Oh, almost forgot. Here's your Dimension Door Remote. I won't be able to thank you enough for your help."

"No problem. Yep, not at all," she replied.

I then went home with the refined Time Remote Mark II. Looking at how it worked well, I couldn't wait to have adventures with my friends using it to go to places I had never been before.

-End of Chapter 11-

Referenced episode: Spring for Strawberry Shortcake DVD


	15. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Greenhill

It rained that day, while I was preparing for the trip I would have using Time Remote Mark II. A few days before I had asked if Strawberry and the others would have liked to join my trip, but she already had made a promise with Ginger, Orange, Angel, and Blueberry for a garden party. Also, Huck was kinda lazy at that time so he had passed on that. In the end my travelling companion would be Raspberry, Lemon, and Apricot. I actually had asked Peppermint as well but she had not been interested.

"I wonder what will happen to Strawberry's party with this kind of weather..." I thought. "Anyway, it's almost time. I have to meet them at Apricot's house."

Because I didn't know how my trip would be, I wore my hiking outfit and brought a backpack filled with a lot of things. The backpack was not an ordinary backpack. With a technique similar to Ginger's Dimension Door Remote, The backpack could fit infinite amount of things while keeping its weight low. Like the Time Remote Mark II, it used voice commands so I could just say the name of the thing I needed and the backpack would give the thing.

"Time Remote Mark II," I spoke to the backpack and it threw the remote from its pocket right into my grip. "Apricot Cottage!"

The remote successfully transported me to the inside of Apricot's house. Raspberry and Lemon were already there waiting, and they welcomed me with enthusiasm. I saw that Lemon also wore hiking outfit just like me, probably because her regular outfit was not suited for a trip. Raspberry and Apricot still wore their usual outfit.

"Let's go right away," Raspberry said. "We were ready since long ago."

"Yeah, that will be totally cool," Apricot said.

"Agree," Lemon added.

"Well, what's our first destination?" I asked. "Just think of a random name."

"Hmm... Big Blue?" Lemon said.

"We may end up in the middle of the ocean, or high in the sky," I remarked. "Too risky."

"White Land?" Apricot said.

"Might lead to snowy place. And you see we are not prepared for cold weather," I said.

"Okay... How about Green Hill?" Raspberry said.

"That sounds like we will end up on a hill green with plants. Nice idea if I might say," I said

"Yeah, that is cool for me," Apricot said.

"Me too," Lemon added.

"Then let's go. Green Hill!" I spoke to the remote and it made the vortex where we jumped.

When we came out, we realized that we were not on a green hill like we had hoped. We were right outside of a city. The city itself astonished us pretty well because that was the first time in our life to see a big city, and also to see it not themed around fruits like how Strawberryland was.

"Nice city, but we are not on a green hill," Raspberry remarked. "Something wrong with your remote?"

"I don't think so," I answered, throwing my Time Remote Mark II upwards, and my backpack sucked it into the pocket. "Look at that board over there," I continued, pointing at a billboard which showed the name of the city. The billboard said "Welcome to Greenhill".

"Oh, the city's name, it's Greenhill," Apricot noticed.

Raspberry was a little bit upset because we ended up in a place different than what she had hoped, but she accepted it in the end and we all agreed to enter the city and look around before going somewhere else.

"Oh, and I think we should change our names," I said.

"Why should we?" Raspberry asked.

"You see, nothing in this city is themed around fruits. I'm pretty sure the same applies to people's names. If by chance someone greets us and ask for our names, imagine if we answer with these names," I answered.

"Okay... that's sensible enough..." Raspberry said.

"Yeah, that will be cool," Apricot said.

"So what will be our new names?" Lemon asked.

"Let's think of a name for ourselves," I said, starting to think. Everybody else also started to think.

"I think my name will be Abigail," Lemon said.

"My name will be Angel," Apricot said. "Funny that Angel Cake's name is already not around food if I remove the Cake part."

"Okay, mine will be... Patricia I think," Raspberry said. "How about you, Blackberry?"

"Hmm... my name will be..." I said, still thinking.

"Hey, decide fast will you?" Raspberry said.

"Okay, my name will be... Sandy," I said.

"Sandy...? I'm not so sure but it sounds like a girl's name for me," Raspberry remarked.

"It does?" Lemon asked.

"Okay, if you say so, then I'll change it into... David," I said.

"Now that sounds better for me," Raspberry said, and we went into the city.

We walked through the city, but because we didn't know anything about the city, we only walked around randomly without definite destination. Later, the smokes coming out from cars started to become annoying so we decided to look for a place with less cars. After asking around, we ended up at the city's park which was quite large. The park had pavements with benches and a fountain in one part while in the other part it was made to look like a natural forest with a small river, swamp, and many trees. As we were walking in the forest part of the park, we stopped on a small bridge which had been built over the small river.

"This park reminds me of Huckleberry Briar," I said. "Except this park is more beautiful."

"Yes indeed," Raspberry said.

"I want to stay here for longer," Lemon said.

"Me too, that will be cool," Apricot said.

"I feel the same, but in the end we will have to go home. Don't worry, we can visit this place again someday," I said.

"Yeah..." Apricot said with a small sigh. "Hey, did anybody just see what I saw?" She continued pointing towards the river.

"Indeed, I saw something moving down there," I said, looking down.

"I'll go check," Raspberry said, going towards the river under the bridge.

"Be careful," Lemon said.

Raspberry examined the area under the bridge slowly. At first she didn't see anything strange, but suddenly there was a small movement. Raspberry took a closer look to the source, and all of a sudden a big creature came out jumping with its mouth widely opened. It was a huge crocodile.

"Oh no! Raspberry, run!" Lemon yelled.

"It's going to eat you alive!" Apricot yelled. However, Raspberry didn't move at all. It seemed that she was frightened so badly that the fright nailed her to the ground she was on.

"How can a crocodile that big live here!?" I said, rushing towards Raspberry to help her.

I tried to grab Raspberry and pull her away, but the slope I had to climb while pulling her didn't make it any easier. As the crocodile came closer, the situation seemed hopeless. I almost gave up when suddenly I heard a voice.

"That's fine!" the voice said, which sounded like the voice of a little kid. "Mr. Crocodile does not eat you."

I looked towards the source of the voice, and found that it indeed came from a little boy, who was not much older than Apple Dumplin', riding a yellow toy car. I looked towards the crocodile again and I saw it stopped right in front of Raspberry and didn't move anymore. The boy then walked towards the crocodile and put his hands on the crocodile's nose.

"Cold, but also feels warm," the boy said. "Try it."

However, right at that time I saw that Raspberry was already unconscious. I still had to carry her to a place where she could properly lie down.

"Give me a hand please," I said to my other friends.

Then, the three of us lifted Raspberry up and put her on a flat grass surface under a tree.

"Why she fell asleep, ChaCha?" the boy said.

"That's not sleep, Buddy. She fainted, maybe because she was afraid," a weak voice answered from somewhere near. I wondered for a brief moment but because Raspberry was more important I put that aside.

All of us, including the boy, sat beside Raspberry waiting for her to wake up. It took only a few minutes until she finally woke up.

"Welcome back," I said.

"Oh, I fell unconscious...? How embarassing..." she said, getting up to a sitting position.

"It is?" Lemon said

"No it is not," Apricot said.

"If it was me, my reaction would have been much worse," I said. "It's not embarassing, don't worry."

"Oh, wait, we haven't introduced each other properly. I am... Angel. What's your name?" Apricot said to the boy.

"I am Buddy, and this is ChaCha," the boy answered, putting his hand on his toy car.

"I am Abigail. Nice to meet you," Lemon said.

"I'm David," I said.

"And me... I'm Patricia," Raspberry said.

"You named your car ChaCha?" I asked.

"ChaCha is not a car. He is my friend. He became a star but he returned for me," Buddy replied.

At first I thought it was just the imagination of a kid, but remembering the weak voice I had heard I doubted it. I then closed my eyes and kept speaking "I believe" in my head. When I opened my eyes, I was quite surprised seeing what I saw. Buddy's car became alive. To be more specific, the windshield became eyes, the engine ventilation became mouth, the side mirrors became ears, and the antenna on the back became tail.

"ChaCha, what is David doing?" Buddy asked.

"I have no idea, Buddy," the car replied.

"I was trying to believe, and it seems I have succeeded. Now I can see what ChaCha really is," I said.

Raspberry, Lemon, and Apricot were speechless looking at me. I thought they were confused seeing me following a kid's imagination so I told them to try it. However...

"No, that's not it," Raspberry said.

"Huh?" I wondered.

"We can see him already," Lemon said. "I mean, ChaCha."

"Yeah, since the first time we met him," Apricot added.

"You were the only one who had to try to believe," Raspberry said.

After hearing all those, I felt really embarassed. All my friends could see ChaCha from the beginning while I couldn't. That implied that I was a person without good belief. However, none of them seemed to care further about that. The next few moments were spent talking together in a happy manner. I learned that ChaCha was originally Buddy's pet dog, but he died protecing Buddy from a car accident. However, because there was a deep affection and love between Buddy and ChaCha, ChaCha's soul returned and possessed Buddy's toy car. In the end of the conversation Buddy agreed to take us walking around the city of Greenhill.

Our first stop was a house located near the center of the city. Despite its location, the house looked like it had been abandoned for many years. The paints had been worn away, some windows were broken, and other things that made the house seemed haunted. When we arrived there, Buddy started to call out a name.

"Sarah!" Buddy yelled.

"Your friend lives here?" I asked.

"Yes, and also Papa Rat," Buddy answered.

The name of the other friend sounded weird for me and probably the others. Papa Rat, father of rat? How did he get that name? When I was still wondering, The house's door opened by itself and Buddy entered it. We followed him although there was some doubt.

Inside the house, it was quite dark. Sunlight had to struggle to enter the house. Despite that, the house itself was apparently clean at the inside. All of us entered a room which looked like a guest room, which was brighter than the hallway because the window was opened, and sat on available chairs. As we were waiting for someone to come, suddenly we heard a voice.

"You have new friends, Buddy? I haven't seen them before," the voice said, which sounded like a girl's voice with some echo.

"Yes, they are David, Abigail, Angel, and Patricia," Buddy answered. "They believe about ChaCha so I want them to know you too."

"Oh, I see," the voice answered.

"Umm, Buddy. Who are you talking to?" I asked.

"Yeah, I can hear her but I can't see her," Raspberry said.

"Me too," Lemon added.

"And me too," Apricot said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. In midday it's quite difficult to see me," the voice answered, which gave us a quite bad feeling.

"Are you... a ghost...?" I asked.

"Yes I am. You can close the curtain if you want to see me more clearly," the voice said.

The last sentence surprised us quite a bit. However, the fact that there was a ghost right in front of us didn't frighten us. Probably because the voice sounded kind and warm, and also because Buddy had said that the ghost had been his friend. Raspberry then closed the room's curtain, making the room quite darker. Then, as we were seeing the chair Buddy was talking to, a figure of a girl around the same age as us started to appear. The girl's hair was brown, wavy, and its length reached slightly above her hip. She wore a white overall skirt with green lines on the edges.

"We haven't introduced each other properly. I'm Sarah, and I'm happy to meet you all," The ghost said.

"I'm David. This is... Patricia... umm... Abigail... and... umm... Angel," I said trying to remember my friends' new names.

"Is Papa Rat home? I want them to know him too," Buddy asked Sarah.

"I'm here, Buddy," a voice said. We looked towards the source and saw a small toy police car with a shape similar to a mouse.

"Hi, Papa Rat. These are my new friends," Buddy said.

The introduction was repeated and then all of us had a happy conversation. Before we knew it, the sun had started to set, telling that it was going to get dark soon.

"Oh, I should go home now," Buddy said. "Too bad... There are still places I want to show, and many other friends..."

"Where do you all live?" Sarah asked.

"Umm... Well... Very far. We are on vacation," I answered.

"Does that mean that... you're going to leave...?" Buddy asked with eyes starting to leak tears.

"Well... eventually we will have to leave... But I think we can stay here for a while. That is if the others agree with me," I answered.

"That's fine for me," Raspberry said. "This city is quite nice anyway."

"Me too," Lemon said.

"That will be cool for me," Apricot said, and Buddy's face became happy again.

"May I ask where you will sleep tonight?" Sarah asked.

"We have sleepbags and tents, so we can sleep anywhere no problem," Raspberry said.

"Come to my house, I have place for everyone," Buddy said.

"Umm... Buddy, you don't. Your room is too small for all of them," ChaCha said.

"How about Mom and Dad's room?" Buddy asked.

"No, that will not be right," ChaCha answered.

"Why not?" Buddy asked again.

"It is not a good manner to have guests sleep in the same room as your parents, Buddy," ChaCha answered.

"But I want to introduce them to my parents too," Buddy said.

The conversation between Buddy and ChaCha kept going for quite a while. Buddy insisted on bringing the four of us to sleep in his house that night, while ChaCha insisted against it because of manner reasons. In the end Buddy was the winner, and all of us left the haunted house soon after because it was getting dark. When we arrived, we saw that Buddy's house was a simple one-story house with a garage and quite a wide garden, although the garden was mostly just grass. Right at that time a red car came and parked into the garage of Buddy's house.

"Ah, Dad's home!" Buddy said, and a man came out of the car and approached us.

"Hi, Buddy. Were you waiting for Dad? And who are they?" he asked.

"No, I have just arrived. These are my friends David, Patricia, Abigail, and Angel," Buddy answered.

"I see. Please come in," he said, and all of us went into the house.

Inside the house, a woman who seemed to be Buddy's mother welcomed us and a conversation started.

"Welcome home, Dad and Buddy. Oh, who are these kids?" she said.

"They are my new friends, Mom. He is David, then she is Patricia, Angel, and Abigail," Buddy said. "Ah, I want to go to toilet," he continued and went to the toilet with ChaCha.

"Have you just moved to this city?" she asked.

"No, we are on vacation. Our home is... very far," I answered.

"I see. You travel with your parents?" she asked again.

"No. We travel on our own," I answered, which pretty much surprised Buddy's mother and father.

"Oh, wouldn't your parents be worried?" she asked.

"Well, umm... We..." I said, running out of words.

"We don't even know if we ever had parents before. All these years we have been living on our own," Raspberry answered the question for me.

Raspberry's answer struck both of the parents quite significantly. They ran out of words after hearing that, and I could see that their face expression changed from curiosity into pity. Then, Buddy came out from the toilet and looked at his still-silent parents.

"Mom, Dad, why are you so silent?" Buddy asked.

"Umm, anyway, you all must be hungry. Let's have dinner now," the mother said, trying to change topic.

At dinner time, we found that the food they served was very strange for us. Even the smell was so different than what we used to eat. All of us didn't want to add more bother to the parents so we decided to eat the food anyway. However, the parents noticed our face expressions and asked about it.

"Well... to tell the truth... we have never eaten this kind of food... we even have never seen this food..." I answered.

"What? So what have you all been eating everyday?" the father asked.

"Only fruits and sometimes cookies and cakes," I answered and all the three girls nodded agreeing with me.

"Oh my, I'll go get some at the shop," the father said. "All of you have been used to that kind of food. This sudden change may be bad for your health."

"No, please don't bother. We actually brought some in our backpack," Lemon said.

"Then you can keep the ones I will give to you for your following days," he said and then he left the house.

So, all of us ate the berries we brought inside our backpack. Later the father came back bringing quite an amount of fruits and cookies. We gladly accepted his kind offer. The next hour were spent talking together until Buddy's bedtime came. Then the mother brought Buddy into his bedroom to accompany him until he fell asleep. The father then asked us about the place we were going to sleep.

"We bring sleepbags and tents, so we can sleep anywhere no problem," I answered.

"Oh, well, you can sleep here tonight. It's cold outside," he replied.

"Thank you, sir. You are too kind," I said.

That night, the four of us slept in the house's living room using our sleepbags. When I assumed everybody had fallen asleep, I was still awake even though I had tried to sleep because I kept thinking about what had happened, especially about the absence of our parents.

"Still awake, Blackberry?" a voice asked, which I recognized as Raspberry.

"Yeah, I'm concerned about what just happened," I answered.

"You mean, about parents?" she asked.

"Exactly... now that it has been mentioned, I wonder why none of us has parents. Also, how did I live when I was as little as Buddy? I can't remember at all. It seems like I just appeared out of nowhere already at this age..." I said.

"You know... I have never given it a second thought back in Strawberryland and the place I had lived before. But yeah, now I wonder about it as well," she answered.

"Me too," another voice answered, which I recognized as Lemon.

"And me three," another voice answered, which was of course from Apricot.

"So you are all still awake like me huh?" I said and we laughed a little. "In any case, I will just live my life as it is."

"Agree," all the three girls answered, and we all went to sleep.

At the next day, after breakfast the four of us went with Buddy and ChaCha to other places we had not visited yet. During the trip we met creatures which were quite the same as ChaCha such as a hippopotamus in a truck, a leopard in a car, and an elephant in an excavator. Buddy said there were more but they lived far away so we couldn't visit them. We then went to a place people called as Orgel House. It was a building placed just next to the sea, with its backyard having fountains which performed water attraction every hour. it was said that sometimes we could see dolphins if we were lucky. We waited for one performance and watched it, but we weren't lucky enough to see dolphins. All in all, we had a wonderful time until the day started to mark its end with the sunset. We were already in front of Buddy's house at that time.

"I guess it is time for us to go," I said.

"Will you come back...?" Buddy asked, starting to leak tears again.

"Yes we will. Don't worry about that," I answered. "Thank you, Buddy. For being a nice friend to us."

"Don't forget about me," Buddy said.

"We will never forget you," Raspberry said.

"Of course we will not," Lemon added.

"Yeah, that will be uncool if we do," Apricot said.

"Wait, I want to ask one thing..." ChaCha said.

"What is it?" I said.

"All of you are... from another world right?" ChaCha said, which struck all of us.

"How can you say that?" I asked.

"Well, you could see me from the first time you meet us. Even children younger than you other than Buddy cannot see me, you know. Then you had never eaten rice, you could still live without adult supervision, and most of the time you had a hard time mentioning the names of your friends even though you seem to know each other very well. I suppose those names aren't your real names right? You all changed your names because you felt your real names sounds weird here," ChaCha said.

"Umm... well... you're right. We are from another world named Strawberryland," I said.

"What is another world?" Buddy asked.

"It's hard to explain, Buddy. All I can say is that they live in a place with different things than what we used to see," ChaCha answered.

Because it had been figured out, I told them everything about Strawberryland, starting from Berries that grow as large as beach balls, rivers of chocolate, caramel, and juice, and lollipop trees.

"Wow, sounds yummy," Buddy said.

"Indeed, but if you live there you will have problems with your teeth, Buddy," ChaCha said.

"Also, my name is actually Blackberry Bun. This is Raspberry Torte, Lemon Meringue, and Apricot," I said.

"Your names sound yummy too," Buddy said, laughing, and we all laughed as well. "I'll tell you my real name too. It's Randy."

"I see. Then, I suppose it's goodbye now," I said.

We then said our final farewell to Buddy and walked away. As we left the city, I took Time Remote Mark II from my backpack.

"Next destination?" I asked.

"Let's go home for now. I'm quite tired," Raspberry said.

"Me too," Lemon said.

"And me three," Apricot said.

"Strawberryland!" I said to the remote which then made the dimension door we jumped in.

-End of Chapter 12-

Referenced episode: The Play's The Thing, the first episode of Dress up Days DVD.  
Crossover with: Daisuki BuBu ChaCha anime


	16. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Confusion

We landed on the outfield of Strawberryland. Like in Greenhill, the sun was setting so all of us decided to go home, rest, and continue the trip at the next day. Thus, we parted and walked to each of our own house. Because Time Remote Mark II ran out of energy, I had to walk to my house. It was not a problem for me though. However, when I arrived at the tree which hid my house, I couldn't find the button that revealed the ladder to the entrance. I walked around the tree and found that both Falcon and Arrowhead weren't in their place.

"I have a bad feeling about this. Vision!" I spoke to my backpack and it gave me a pair of glasses similar to what I usually wore, except that they had green lenses and some cables around the frame. The function of that device was to see through things like if they were semi-transparent. I replaced my glasses with it and looked towards the tree. Then, I saw that my house had disappeared.

"Somebody has stolen my house?" I wondered. "But that cannot be..."

While I was still wondering, Raspberry came to me with her face expression really weird. It seemed that she had seen something terrible.

"Blackberry, you won't believe what I just saw..." she said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You won't believe," she said.

"Try me," I said.

"Better see for yourself," Raspberry said, pulling me.

Raspberry brought me to her house, and asked me to look into one of the windows. I did what she told me to do, and I couldn't believe what I saw. I saw another Raspberry Torte having dinner inside the house.

"When I came here, I saw the lights on. I remember that I didn't turn them on, so I looked into the window and..." she said.

"Okay, I see what you mean..." I said.

"Did you transport us to a wrong time?" she asked.

"No, I set the remote only to make a portal for dimensional travel, not time travel, not both," I answered.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes I'm really sure. We spent one night in Greenhill so it must be only one day passed here as well," I answered.

Not long after, Lemon and Apricot came to us with similar stories. There was another Lemon and another Apricot inside their respective house. However, unlike Raspberry, they had entered the house because they hadn't been aware so they ended up meeting their twins.

"Really? Did they say anything?" I asked.

"She thought she was dreaming and immediately went to sleep," Lemon said.

"For me, she was surprised and asked from where and how did I come," Apricot said.

"And what did you tell her?" Raspberry asked.

"Well, I told her everything about our travel to another dimension with Blackberry. However..." she answered.

"However...?" Raspberry asked again.

"She said she didn't know someone with the name Blackberry Bun," she answered, which surprised everyone else.

"That cannot be!" Raspberry said.

"But it was really her answer," Apricot said.

"Come to think of it... my house is gone..." I said, which once again surprised everyone else.

"What?! How come?" Lemon asked.

"I have no idea," I answered. "In any case, we need to find a place to sleep tonight."

"Well, my twin offered the place," Apricot said.

So, we went to Apricot's house. Indeed there was another Apricot inside and she welcomed us warmly. I had to introduce myself to her, and then all of us had some talks. Also, I observed that the other Apricot was slightly taller than the Apricot I knew.

"Are you really sure that you didn't bring us to a wrong time?" Raspberry asked the same question again.

"Yes I'm really sure. I say this once again: I didn't set the remote to make a time portal, only a dimensional portal," I said.

"Then what's the explanation of this?" she asked. "It seems we are now in a near future. You see, our twins are slightly taller and older than us."

"I have no idea at all," I replied. "Let's sleep for now and think about that tomorrow."

So, all of us slept using our sleepbags in Apricot's house. While trying to sleep, I still had some thinking about what was happening. One idea came to me but I wasn't sure of it so I let it by for then and went to sleep. At the next day the four of us left Apricot's house and walked around Strawberryland. While walking we saw something coming from the front, and I noticed it as the carriage of Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes.

"Hide!" I told everyone, and we quickly hid ourselves behind a nearby tree. While the carriage was passing, I could hear some words said by the two adults.

"I told you that it was not going to work!" Sour Grapes said.

"Grr... that Strawberry Shortcake always ruins all my brilliant plans!" Purple Pie Man said.

After the carriage went away, we came out from our hiding and continued on with our walk. As we came closer to Strawberry's house, we started to hear someone singing.

"Do you hear what I hear?" I asked.

"Yes," Raspberry said.

"Someone is singing," Lemon remarked.

"I think it is Strawberry's voice," Apricot said.

I recognized the song as the one I had recorded with my Universal Recorder. The one song that was my most favorite song ever, the one about home being where the heart is. I wondered for once because my Universal Recorder wasn't supposed to record something from the future, but I put that aside because it was not important for me. We continued walking until we arrived at her house, and we couldn't believe what we saw.

"Are they the ones we know?" I asked.

"I think, but I think not too," Raspberry said.

We saw a group of five girls, three of them still easily recognizable as Ginger Snap, Angel Cake, and Orange Blossom. However, the last two still needed further observing until we knew that they were Strawberry Shortcake and Peppermint Fizz. Ginger Snap still had her straight pigtails, but much longer. Angel Cake's hair style was similar to Lemon. Orange Blossom's hair was much longer with mat style and five thin braids. Peppermint's hair also was much longer, with broom-shaped ponytail. However, the one that surprised me most was Strawberry's hair. Not only it reached halfway of her back, the color was maroon instead of orange. We approached the group and then a conversation began.

"Hi, Raspberry, Lemon, Apricot! And who is this new friend?" Strawberry asked.

"You don't know him? Any of you?" Raspberry asked.

"No, never seen him. Yep, never did," Ginger said.

"What happened to you all? He has been our friends for quite some time!" Raspberry said.

"I don't remember him at all. Really," Angel Cake said.

"Okay, my name is Blackberry Bun. I myself also don't know what is going on here," I said. "Or maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Raspberry asked.

"But first, I want to ask you, Strawberry. What happened to your hair?" I asked Strawberry.

"My hair? What's wrong with my hair?" she replied with question.

"The color. Wasn't it orange before?" I asked.

"No, my hair has been this color since I was little," she answered.

"I see... my thought is true after all..." I said.

"What thought?" she asked. So, I told her everything about my Time Remote Mark II and the trip I had with Lemon, Raspberry, and Apricot.

"Then?" Raspberry asked.

"This is not Strawberryland. I mean, this is not the Strawberryland where we live," I answered.

"... I don't understand..." Raspberry said.

"By coincidence the remote transported us to a place with the same name but in a parralel world," I said.

"You are making smokes to come out from our head you know," Raspberry said, and indeed everyone else had a confused face.

"Okay, to make it simple, we are still in another world. Like Greenhill, but this world is very similar to our Strawberryland," I answered.

"Oh... I think I understand now," Lemon said.

"Yeah, in this Strawberryland everyone are different. You see, some have completely different looks, Strawberry's hair has different color, everyone are slightly older than in our Strawberryland, and..." I said, pausing for a moment. "I don't exist..."

"Wait! What was the last point?" Apricot asked.

"In this Strawberryland I don't exist. There is nobody with the name Blackberry Bun here. That explains why my house was not in its place when I went there last night," I answered.

"Oh... that's a pity..." Raspberry said. "So, what should we do now?"

"Use the remote again, I think," I answered. "Time Remote Mark II!"

The backpack threw the remote into my grip, and I said Strawberryland's name into it, followed by my district's name. The remote then made a dimension door ready for us to enter.

"Strawberry, it was nice to know you although only for a short time. I hope we can meet again someday," I said to Strawberry.

"Me too, Blackberry. Please be safe in your trip," she said.

"By the way, the song you just sang... was that the first time you sing it?" I asked.

"Home Is Love? Yes, that was the first time," she answered.

"I see. Goodbye then," I said, jumping into the dimension door along with Raspberry, Lemon, and Apricot.

We landed right in front of the tree where my house was supposed to be located. I looked for the button which revealed the ladder and I found it in the usual place, then I pressed the button with relief.

"My house is here, so we are back in our world," I said as the ladder dropped down. However, suddenly I heard a loud noise from the back.

"What was that?" Apricot asked.

"Sounds like an explosion," Lemon remarked.

"Let's go check," Raspberry said.

"Make it quick. I have a bad feeling about this..." I said. "I think I know that noise."

We quickly went to the back of the house, at there we saw something we couldn't believe. We saw another Blackberry Bun lying down on the ground, unconscious with wounds all over his body. Right next to him was a vehicle I recognized as the old Falcon. We then quickly approached my twin and examined his condition.

"Oh my gooseberries! His condition is very bad!" Raspberry said.

"We need to take care of his wounds!" Lemon said.

"Phoenix Tear!" I said to my backpack, and it threw the metal sphere into the grip of my hands. I then turned the device on and let the blue radiance covered the body of my twin, which was soon healed completely.

"That is totally cool," Apricot said.

"Okay, now get out of here before he wakes up. I'll explain later. Hurry!" I said, and without further questions we all went away quickly. We then stopped at an area deep inside a nearby forest.

"Care for an explanation?" Raspberry asked.

"Well, Raspberry... You were right," I said.

"Right about what?" she asked.

"We haven't been in correct timeline," I said. "We are in the past now."

"That makes sense, looking that your twin is somewhat smaller than yourself," she remarked. "Any more details to share?"

"Okay... I don't know since when, but my remote has been transporting us not only to another world, but also to the past," I answered. "I don't know about Greenhill, but the other Strawberryland we saw was also the past."

"How did you know?" she asked.

"The song we heard, I had recorded it before with my Universal Recorder. But Strawberry said it was the first time she sang the song," I answered.

"Okay... Any further explanation about what just happened? You haven't said anything about that," she said.

"Alright, that explosion was an accident I experienced when I was trying to make Falcon. I remember the pain I had all over my body, and for once I thought that it would have been the end of me. However, later I woke up without any wounds on my body. I have been wondering about that miracle until now, and now I know the answer," I said.

"Wow, it sounds too good to be said a coincidence..." Apricot said.

"Indeed, but that's what happened. Anyway, now we have to go back to the correct timeline," I said, setting the remote to make a time portal instead of a dimension door.

"Is it going to work? I mean, with what just happened, you know..." Apricot asked.

"I'm as unsure as you are, but this is still better than doing nothing," I replied, also speaking a date. A vortex appeared and then all of us jumped in.

Once again, we ended up right in front of the tree which hid my house. It was raining so I quickly dropped the ladder down and told everyone to come inside. When we were in, we got surprised once again because we saw a dimension door in the middle of my house, which disappeared soon after.

"Oh, I think I know..." I said.

"What is it?" Raspberry asked.

"That's the dimension door I used to go to Apricot's house. Dimension doors made by my remote only last for one minute so that means we're back into our departure day," I answered. "By mistake I mentioned our departure date instead of two days forward."

"So that means right now the other we are thinking of a name to visit?" she asked.

"I think so. Now we can choose to go home and continue living like if our trip never happened if you want. There will be no problem," I said.

"That's a relief. I'm now so tired that I feel I can sleep the whole day today..." she said.

"Me too..." Lemon said.

"Me three..." Apricot added.

After saying those, all three of them went to each own home. I was quite tired as well so after changing my clothes I got onto my bed and went to sleep. There were so many confusions experienced on that day...

-End of Chapter 13-

Referenced episode: Around The Berry Big World. The second episode of Berry Big Journeys Episode.


	17. Chapter 14 Part 1

Chapter 14: A Newcomer Comes and Goes

Even though I had felt I could sleep for the whole day, I woke up in midday after all because my stomach asked for lunch. The rain had stopped and a rainbow appeared, making it a good time to have lunch. After having my lunch I decided to go to my working table and start making a new device. In the next three hours I finished repairing Time Remote Mark II and making a gun-shaped device I named Replicator. Its function was to make a perfect copy of any non-living thing it shot. While testing it, I set it into copy mode, aimed it towards Eagle Eye's satellite, and pulled the trigger. It shot a green laser, which hit the satellite. Then, I set it into paste mode and shot it towards the floor of my house. It shot a purple laser, which hit the floor and instantly materialized a perfect copy of the satellite. I took the satellite and tried using it like the real one. It worked well, implying that Replicator worked well too.

While I was having my joy of successfully making a new device, someone knocked on my door. I opened it and the guest turned out to be Strawberry. As she entered I, with intention of joking, aimed copy-mode Replicator at her. She was surprised seeing me aiming a gun at her.

"Whoa don't shoot, Blackberry! It's me, Strawberry Shortcake!" she said with a little fright, but I shot her anyway and the green laser hit her hat.

"Oh, sorry," I said, setting Replicator to paste mode.

"What was that? It's dangerous you know," she said as I shot her again. This time, I shot her hand and a copy of her hat materialized there.

"Replicator," I answered with smile. "You didn't think that I would make a dangerous thing for real, did you?"

As she examined the copy of her hat, she giggled and said "I knew you wouldn't, but you still scared me. You are always full of surprises with your things."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," I said with a giggle. "Anyway, what happened that you come here?"

Then, she told me about a new friend with the name Rainbow Sherbet living in a boat docked on Punch Bowl Pond. As she told me that, I looked towards Punch Bowl Pond visible from my window, and indeed there was a boat that had not been there before. She also told me that at the next day there would be a welcoming party at her house and she invited me to come.

"I see, thanks for inviting. I'll see if I can come tomorrow," I said, and she left.

Not long after that, someone knocked on my door again. However, this time the guest was Ginger Snap.

"Oh, hi Ginger. What happened that you come here?" I asked.

"Y'know. Tomorrow there will be a party to welcome a new friend. There will be tens and hundreds and thousands and dozens of cookies and cakes so I'm going to make an automatic cookie-icin' machine to help everyone out," she said.

"Dozens are less than hundreds and thousands. Keep going anyway," I remarked.

"Okie dokie. Well, I thought you could come and help me out on it. Will you?" she asked.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do. Shall we go right away?" I said.

"Definitely!" she answered and we went towards her cookie factory.

At first, I thought the work would be a piece of cake with the two of us together. However, apparently me and Ginger had different thoughts about the machine we were going to make, making the rest of the day spent mostly arguing on how the machine should be made. Some accidents happened making both of us covered in icings, and we had quite an amount of laughs together. We forgot about bedtime and continued working on the machine until we fell asleep inside the factory. When we woke up, it was already bright and Ginger panicked seeing that.

"Uh oh! It's almost time! And the machine is not finished yet! There's no way we can finish it in time! Nope, not at all!" she shouted.

"Hmm, I think you can go there and buy some time. I'll finish this meanwhile," I said.

"Really? Thanks a zillion! I'll be back in a flash! Yep, I sure will!" she said, leaving the factory soon after.

Surprisingly without Ginger the work was much faster and I didn't know why. I finished the machine in the next ten minutes, and right after that Ginger came back with sore face.

"The party's cancelled," she said.

"How come?" I asked, and she told me what Strawberry had told her. Peppermint didn't like the new friend for a reason she couldn't say, and she had told Strawberry about her feelings towards Rainbow, without realizing that the person in particular had been actually there as well and had heard everything.

"And so now the machine has no use. Nope, not at all," she said.

"We still can use it whenever there's another party in the future," I said. "You better go to Rainbow, she might needs some encouragement."

"How about you?" she asked.

"I'll go home first and change into cleaner clothes," I answered. "You better do the same too."

I then went home to change my clothes, which were full of pink icing all over them. Midway I thought about how Peppermint could do such thing. I knew she was not as nice as the others, but to drive a new friend away still didn't feel like her. I was sure there was something more, but no idea came to my mind.

After changing into clean clothes, I went to Punch Bowl Pond and saw Orange, Angel, Ginger, Blueberry, and a girl I had never seen before. The girl I assumed to be Rainbow seemed depressed while the others tried to cheer her up. I then approached them to ask about what had happened.

"Hi everyone," I greeted as I came closer. "What happened here?"

"Hi, Blackberry. Well, Rainbow taught us about a new game to play with ball, but Peppermint didn't like it and... well..." Blueberry answered.

"She said something bad again I assume?" I asked.

"Her last sentence was `I'll come back when she's gone!` when she left. It was bad, am I right? It made Rainbow sad, am I right again?" Ginger said.

"That's fine..." Rainbow said, still with depressed face.

"No it is not fine," Angel said.

"Strawberry is now talking with Peppermint again. I don't know if she will succeed this time..." Orange told me.

"It does not matter anymore," Rainbow said, walking to her boat.

"Rainbow..." Angel said, following her. But Orange stopped her.

"I think we have to leave her alone for now," Orange said, and we all left the place.

At home I thought about the new friend. There were things that indeed made her different than the others. First, she lived in a boat instead of a house. Second, she wore her belt tilted, which frankly felt strange for me. Third, her outfit was so colorful, which fit her name but still seemed strange in my eyes because other friends didn't have so many colors on them. However, I decided to put all those things aside because I would be no much different than Peppermint if I kept all those thoughts.

At the next day, early in the morning, Strawberry came to my house rushing.

"Blackberry. I need your Replicator," she said, panting.

"Hold it. Tell me what happened and what's your plan with it," I replied.

She then quickly told me that Rainbow was going to leave Strawberryland forever on that day unless something was done quickly. So she had a plan to make a costume party with everyone.

"I want to have everyone wearing the same costume as Peppermint and act like her to let her know what will happen if everybody is like her," she said.

"I see, but that means I have to shoot her, and that won't be easy," I said.

"Please think of something, Blackberry. We need to have Rainbow stay, and this is the only way, not to mention that I already gave invitations to everyone," she said.

"Strawberry, this is not like you to rush on an unsure thing," I said, pausing for a brief moment. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

I quickly tweaked Replicator a bit and also launched Eagle Eye towards Peppermint's house. In the monitor we saw which costume Peppermint was going to wear. I zoomed the camera to focus on the costume, and shot Replicator to the monitor. Then, I set it to paste mode and aimed it on the floor.

"Now cross your fingers, Strawberry..." I said as I shot the floor. Something materialized there and it turned out to be the costume we had wanted to copy.

"Great!" she shouted in joy.

I shot the floor a few more times so the amount of copy was enough for everyone else.

"Now I need to bring these to my home quickly. Thanks for your help, Blackberry," she said, taking all the costumes.

"Wait, I have something to bring you there in a flash," I said, taking Time Remote Mark II from my shelf. "Strawberryland! Strawberry Shortcake's house!"

A dimension door appeared. Strawberry recognized it as the same dimension door Ginger had used to help me, and jumped in happily. I followed her to make sure she wouldn't end up in the different Strawberryland like I had experienced. The door transported us into Strawberry's house, and because everyone else minus Peppermint were there waiting and asking about the costume party, I could rest assured that we were still in the same world.

"I'll go back home. I can't wear a girl costume right?" I said, and I re-entered the dimension door to go back home.

I then watched the costume party with Eagle Eye. Everyone had worn the costume and were waiting for Peppermint to come. Not long after, she came and was quite surprised seeing the costume of everybody else. Then everyone played their part well on how they should act, however Peppermint seemed to become more and more upset as time passed.

"Just what are you all doing?!" she shouted with anger, surprising everyone else. "Everybody wear the same costume as me, eat the same food and didn't leave any for me, all these craziness is really making me mad! You all are playing tricks to me!" she scolded, leaving everyone else speechless.

"Peppermint, I..." Strawberry started to speak.

"I know! This is your plan to change my mind about that kid, huh? Too bad, I'll never change my mind. She's different and weird, there's something wrong with her! And I won't feel any better if she's not gone yet! Screw everything, I'm out of here!" she said and left the place.

Her reaction which was not as planned left everybody else speechless. A huge depression covered everyone's face, and I could feel how broken their hearts were, especially Rainbow. I used Time Remote Mark II to quickly come to the place, with intention to give them some encouragement although I doubted if it would work. When I arrived there, everybody was still in big depression. I saw Rainbow removing her mask and approached Strawberry.

"It's okay, Strawberry. You did your best," she said to Strawberry, with her hand on the latter's shoulder.

"But Peppermint still..." Strawberry said with sad face.

"Never mind about that. It's fine for me. If I can't be friends with her then so be it, we can't force it," Rainbow said.

Sad but true, Rainbow was right in my opinion. There were things Peppermint and Rainbow had which didn't match well with each other, making friendship between them near to impossible. However, Strawberry had a thinking that if both Peppermint and Rainbow were her friends while the two couldn't maintain good friendship, something must have been wrong and should have been fixed. The event that had just happened was actually good to teach Strawberry a bit of reality, and I hoped she could learn the lesson well although I actually doubted it.

"I guess it's time for me to go," Rainbow said, putting off her costume.

"Rainbow, no...!" Strawberry said.

"Please don't go..." Angel said.

"We all like you," Orange said.

"Thank you all, but I don't want to get in the way. And it seems I'm destined to be a traveller after all," Rainbow replied. "And please don't keep any ill-feelings towards Peppermint after I go. It's not her fault at all."

After saying those, Rainbow walked away to her boat which was docked on a river not far from Strawberry's house. Everyone else followed her, and watched in silence as the boat sailed away. Everyone waved their hands in tears, saying their final farewell, and kept looking at the boat until it disappeared into the horizon.

Everybody went home after that, and I could feel that they were mourning over what had just happened. I was afraid of something that might happen later, which was Peppermint losing all her friends because of what she had just done, despite Rainbow's final message. I knew and agreed with Rainbow that friendship couldn't be forced between some people, but it seemed that everyone else were still yet to learn about reality, especially Strawberry. I felt this would have a chain reaction which might ruin everyone's friendship towards each other, and something must be done.

That night, I spent all the time I had to work on another device. Because the device would function on something which was somewhat against one thing Rainbow had said, the work was indeed very difficult, much harder than any other devices I had ever made. I finished the new device when the sun was already rising, which meant I had spent the night without sleep. But the plan must go on so I immediately left my house.

Later, I arrived at Peppermint's house and knocked on the door. Soon she opened the door and a conversation started.

"Blackberry? What is it?" she asked.

"This is about Rainbow," I answered as both of us entered the house.

"That kid huh? If you're here to change my mind, forget it," she said.

"She left," I said.

She had a brief silence and then while facing away from me she said, "That's good,"

"Are you happy with it?" I asked.

Still facing away and with a brief silence before the sentence, she answered, "Yes, of course. That weird kid is gone, and that is the happiest thing in my life,"

"Are you sure on your answer? Is it really what comes from your heart?" I still asked.

Still facing away and with a longer silence coming first, she answered, "Why you keep asking? Of course it is!"

"The way you answer does not sound so," I remarked. There was a silence for a few minutes.

"She was sorta different the first time I saw her, and it kinda scared me," she finally started to speak.

"Is that so?" I asked.

"Yeah... The way she speaks, living in a boat, so many colors on her outfit, tilted belt, and everything! All those things kinda scared me, and made me want her to go away!" she said, finally turning around facing me. "But... But... Later I realized that her differences were actually not things to be scared of. I started to like her because of those differences..."

As she said those, she also started sobbing. Then, she continued.

"That night, I couldn't sleep because I felt guilty. I wanted to apologize to her, but I didn't know what to say. Then, the next morning an invitation came and I thought that would be a good chance..." she said.

"Then why you didn't?" I asked.

"...How do you feel when someone tells you to do something, while you were already doing exactly the thing?" she asked me.

"Well... I would feel kinda... insulted I think," I answered. "Oh!"

"You realized it huh?" she remarked my last word.

"Strawberry's plan insulted you..." I said.

"Exactly, and I think you know what happened next..." she said. "Now I don't know what to do, and I don't even know if everyone will forgive me..."

"Why wouldn't we?" a voice said from the door. The door then opened and we saw Strawberry, Angel, Orange, Ginger, and Blueberry coming in.

"Huh? You all were listening?" Peppermint asked.

"Hmm, yeah. All words from the beginning," Blueberry answered.

"It was Blackberry who brought us here. Yep, he did," Ginger said.

"We all are friends and will always be," Strawberry said. "I'm sorry about what happened. I hope you will forgive me too."

All in all, I had saved the circle of friendship within everyone there, without using the device I had just made which I had named Inner Heart. Its shape was like a gun but much smaller than Replicator, and anyone shot by its pink laser would speak from the deepest depth of the heart. I had thought I had to use it to seek the truth within Peppermint's steel heart, but in the end I hadn't. The next thing that happened there were everyone having a big group hug, although that had to end because someone remembered about something.

"What about Rainbow?" Orange asked. "We need her to come back and stay."

"And I need to apologize to her, but it seems it's already too late..." Peppermint said.

It was not a problem, because I had Time Remote Mark II in my pocket, and it was in perfect working order.

-To be continued-

Referenced episode: The Costume Party. The second episode of Dress Up Days DVD  
Additional note: The costume party scene is supposed to end with Peppermint accepting Rainbow in the original episode, but in this story she doesn't. This was written per someone's request to write a fiction where Peppermint drives Rainbow away from Strawberryland.


	18. Chapter 14 Part 2

Chapter 14 Part 2: Chasing The Rainbow

"We can always use this," I said, showing Time Remote Mark II to everyone.

"Oh, the dimension door!" Strawberry said with excitement.

"Dimension door?" Orange asked. "The same with Ginger's?"

"Yep, it sure is the same," Ginger said.

"How we're gonna go to Rainbow with this?" Angel asked.

"Just say the name of the place and we're there," I replied.

"Do you know where she is now?" Peppermint said.

Peppermint's question made me lose words. I forgot that none of us knew where Rainbow was. My remote was useless without knowing the name of the destination. There was a silence for a few seconds.

"You don't know?" Blueberry asked.

"We're screwed," Peppermint said with a sigh. "And it's all my fault."

"Don't give up hope yet. I still have this," I said, taking Falcon's remote from my pocket.

"What is that?" Strawberry asked.

"Come outside," I said, pressing one button. One minute later Falcon came landing in front of Peppermint's house.

"Wow, Blackberry! You've made a flying car too? You're simply amazing, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Not really. Unfortunately, there are seven of us and Falcon's seats are only for six persons. One of us has to stay," I said.

"Who will stay?" Angel asked.

"I have to apologize to her, so I must go," Peppermint said.

"What about the rest?" Strawberry asked.

"Flip a coin or whatever. We have to be quick!" I said, getting onboard. I didn't know how they decided it, but as the rest got onboard, I saw that Blueberry was the one to stay. I then flew Falcon towards the river near Strawberry's house, which was the last place we had seen Rainbow.

"I hope there's no branch on this river," I said, piloting Falcon to follow the flow of the river.

"This river goes to Coco Calypso's place," Strawberry said, sitting between the other two girls on the back seat.

"Coco Calypso? It's been a long time since the last time we saw her, am I right?" Ginger said, sitting at my left.

"Yeah, I miss her," Angel said, sitting on the right side of the back seat.

"She makes the best seaberry treats ever!" Orange said, sitting on the left side of the back seat.

"Yeah of course. She's the only one who makes them," Peppermint said, sitting at my right. "But yeah, her seaberry treats are sorta delicious."

"Am I the only clueless one?" I asked while still piloting Falcon.

"Oh yes. Blackberry doesn't know Coco yet," Strawberry said. "She lives in Seaberry Shore, and sometimes she gives us seaberry treats she has made."

"Oh, I see. How long have you been knowing her?" I asked.

"Hmm, almost one year I think. We met her when we visited Ice Cream Island," Strawberry answered.

"Yeah, one day the waves pushed our raft off the course," Angel said.

"Hmph! I told you that the weather was not good," Peppermint said.

"But we had to! It was almost bedtime and we brought no tents!" Orange replied.

"Yeah, we forgot about time," Strawberry said.

"And then we landed right in front of her house, am I right? We really surprised her, am I right again?" Ginger said.

"By the way, do any of you think we are going lower?" Orange asked, looking outside.

"Blackberry, something wrong with this car?" Angel asked, but there was no answer.

"Hey, give us some answer, will ya Blackberry?" Ginger asked, looking at me. "Oh my, this is bad. Yep it sure is."

"What happened?" Strawberry asked.

"He fell asleep on the wheel! Hey, wake up!" Peppermint shouted, shaking my body.

"Oh... Huh? What?" I asked, waking up.

"Come on! You are driving! Don't fall asleep!" Peppermint said.

"My oh my! Someone's drooling, am I right? He's so sleepy, am I right again?" Ginger said.

"This is berry dangerous. You should stop and rest," Strawberry said.

"Uh... yes, you are right. This way I'm endangering you all..." I said, still half-asleep.

"Hey, isn't that Coco Calypso's place? We can stop there, am I right?" Ginger said, looking outside.

"Alright... I'll land there..." I said, piloting Falcon to land on one open field of sand. The landing was quite rough because I did it while half-asleep. I just realized that staying up all night at the night before had taken its toll.

"Get some sleep or you'll kill us all," Peppermint said, getting off and then walking towards Coco's house.

"My oh my! You look so sleepy! Didn't get good sleep last night?" Ginger asked.

"Kinda... I didn't sleep at all..." I replied, which surprised everyone else except Peppermint because she had walked too far away to hear anything from me.

"How come?" Orange asked. I noticed that Peppermint was at quite a distance so it was safe to talk.

"I made this all the night," I replied, showing Inner Heart to the girls. Then I also told them the purpose of the device. After I finished explaining, I said to them, "Please don't tell Peppermint about this. She might react like the last time if you do."

Soon, Peppermint came back along with another girl I had never seen before, and there was a conversation.

"Coco Calypso!" Strawberry said, hugging her. "I'm happy to see you again!"

"Me too, Strawberry. Peppermint told me that someone needs help," Coco said.

"Oh yes. This is Blackberry Bun. He's berry tired and needs some sleep," Strawberry replied.

Coco kindly offered her place for me to get some sleep. And so I went to sleep on a sofa inside her house, and woke up four hours later. There was only Coco with me when I woke up, and another conversation started.

"Feeling better now?" Coco aksed.

"Yeah, I think," I replied, yawning and scratching my head.

"I talked with the others about the boat you are chasing. I saw that boat passing by yesterday but I didn't see much," she said.

"Do you know where that boat might be going?" I asked.

"Ice Cream Island, I think. All boats must go there first anyway because other courses are full of rocks," she replied.

"I see. I'll go now. The sooner the better," I said, standing up. "It's nice to know you. I hope we can meet again someday."

"Me too, Blackberry. Be safe in your trip," Coco said, and the two of us had a hug.

I then walked outside, where everyone else were waiting. With the info we had obtained from Coco, I piloted Falcon towards Ice Cream Island. The flight went smoothly without any trouble and soon we arrived at Ice Cream Island.

"Should we land here?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think. Maybe we can ask Raven if he has seen Rainbow," Angel said. I then remembered about Raven, the crow who once had been a pet of the villain I had seen using Eagle Eye. After leaving his owner he had been living on Ice Cream Island along with the fillies there. I had visited the island along with some other friends several times after that and it seemed that he had been leading a happy life.

"Everyone else agree?" I asked, and they agreed. Then I landed Falcon on one open field.

"It's been a while," Peppermint said, getting off.

"Yeah it sure has," Orange said as everyone got off. Then, a crow we recognized as Raven approached us from above.

"Hey, kids. It's been a while. I see you no longer need that raft, don't you?" he said, landing on Falcon's roof.

"Hi, Raven. How are you?" Strawberry greeted.

"I'm doing fine. My boss never returned after causing that flood all over this island. He said he would open his circus somewhere far away and would never return here again," Raven answered.

"I hope he will do good things this time," Strawberry said.

"I hope so too, but my boss isn't an easy person to change. Anyway, I guess you come for that rainbow girl, right?" Raven said.

"How did you know?" Angel asked.

"She came here last night and made a firecamp with yummy marshmallows. I talked with her and learned about things that happened when she was in your place," Raven replied, looking at Peppermint.

"Hmph, yeah it was my fault. She said bad things about me, right?" Peppermint said, looking away

"No, she just said that she liked you, but she realized that there were things in her that made it difficult for you to like her in return," Raven replied.

"Did she say where she would go?" I asked.

"She said she had nowhere to go, and would go anywhere the sea would carry her boat," Raven said. "Oh, and did I say that she was still here one hour ago?"

"No, you haven't," Angel said as everyone else got surprised.

"That means she's not berry far away yet!" Strawberry said with excitement.

"She went that way if I remember it right," Raven said, pointing to a direction.

"Thank you berry much for your help, Raven!" Strawberry said.

"No problem, kids. I wish you luck," Raven said, flying away.

All of us then got onboard Falcon again and I flew it towards the direction Raven had pointed. We all were excited and happy about how close we were, but that happiness didn't last for long because I noticed something ahead.

"Everyone, there's a huge storm ahead. Fasten your seatbelts," I said, and everyone did it.

I was glad that I had made Falcon to be able to endure storms. However, even though of that, the wind from the storm still shook Falcon left and right, and the heavy rain kept pushing it downwards. Not to mention that vision was greatly reduced.

"I'm scared..." Angel said.

"Me too..." Orange said.

"Don't worry. You can trust me that Falcon will not lose to this storm," I said to encourage everyone there.

"I'm berry worried about Rainbow..." Strawberry said.

"Well, looking at this storm, I can predict that even the strongest of ships will be flipped over and sink all the way down. Yep, it sure will," Ginger said, which of course didn't make anyone happier. "But I can be wrong too."

"Hey, look there! Isn't that Rainbow's boat?" Peppermint said, pointing to the right side. Everyone looked to the direction and indeed Rainbow's boat was there struggling against the storm. I piloted Falcon to approach the boat, and then all of us were surprised on what we saw next. The storm had somehow created a giant whirlpool right in front of Rainbow's boat, and due to the reduced vision Rainbow seemed not to notice earlier. We saw the boat turning around to avoid the whirlpool, but it was too late. The boat was already in the whirlpool's range and it started to suck the boat in.

"No! We can't let this to happen!" Strawberry said.

"Of course I won't!" I said, pressing one button. Then Falcon shot a harpoon which hit the boat's front side and attached itself without damaging the boat. Then with the engine at full power I attempted to pull the boat away from the whirlpool. However, force of nature was not something to be taken lightly. The whirlpool pulled the boat stronger than Falcon, thus both vehicles were dragged into it. The situation seemed hopeless.

"Everyone, I need you all to brace yourselves. This is going to be rougher than now..." I said, then I pressed Falcon's overcharge button.

Later, we were out of the storm. Rainbow's boat was safe and sound under the bright blue sky. However, Falcon's condition was very bad. Black smokes come out from all over it and all engines were no longer working. All it could do then was just staying afloat on the sea with its harpoon still attached to Rainbow's boat. All of us were already on the deck of Rainbow's boat. Rainbow herself was there as well.

"Umm... Rainbow, I..." Peppermint said timidly. "I'm sorry about all I have said. I... I... I was kinda scared of you because you're different. But... but I have realized that I actually like you because... because you're different," she continued, and there was a silence for a few seconds. "I... I don't know what to say, and I don't even know if... if you will ever forgive me..."

As Peppermint said those, she started to leak tears as well. I could feel that everybody else were speechless. I then saw Rainbow starting to smile and put her hand on Peppermint's shoulder.

"Why shouldn't I? Of course I will," Rainbow said.

"You forgive me? After all I have done?" Peppermint asked, still with tears over her cheeks.

"Yes, everybody deserves a second chance," Rainbow replied.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Peppermint said, and the two girls had a big hug.

-End of Chapter 14-

Reference: Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Island Riding Camp. A Game Boy Advance game in which Licorice Whip causes flood over Ice Cream Island.


	19. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Inner Heart

It had been a few weeks after the event where all of us had used my Falcon, which I had repaired right after that event, to chase Rainbow Sherbet and convince her to stay in Strawberryland. In the end Rainbow had decided to return to Strawberryland and once again had docked her boat at Punch Bowl Pond. I was glad that she was willing to tow broken Falcon all the way back. She didn't get to meet Coco Calypso though, because it was already bed time when we passed her place. However, Strawberry told Rainbow about Coco and she hoped she would get to meet Coco someday.

Also, over the few weeks leaves had fully grown over the tree where my house was located, which meant my house had become completely hidden again. That was not a problem though, because everybody already knew where my house was. I looked around from the window, seeing the leaves being accompanied by blossoms as well. I felt that it was a nice day to go out so I went out for some leisure trips.

While walking, I thought about Inner Heart, the device I had made to seek truth under Peppermint's steel heart. I had not used it at all because eventually my talk had been enough to make her speak the truth of her feelings towards Rainbow. I still brought it with me in my pocket because its size was very small so it didn't take much space in my pocket. However, I doubted if I would ever need to actually use it because Peppermint who I believed to have the hardest heart of all was actually not so hard-hearted.

Not long after, I noticed a poster placed on a tree. The poster was about an event named Berry Blossom Festival, a festival to celebrate the berry blossoms blooming all over Strawberryland. I read through the poster and thought that it would be an event I would not miss.

"Strawberry, you can make a party out of anything. That's also another thing I like from you," I thought, walking away from the poster.

I then met Raspberry who seemed to be walking around as well. I approached her and a conversation started.

"Hi, Raspberry," I greeted.

"Hi, Blackberry. How have you been?" she replied.

"Leaves start to hide my house again, but other than that I have been fine," I answered.

"I see. Where are you going now?" she asked.

"I'm just walking around. By the way, have you heard about Berry Blossom Festival?" I asked back.

"Heard about it? I'm the one handling decorations!" she replied with excitement

"Oh, that's cool. Are you doing well?" I asked.

"Definitely! Just wait and see," she replied.

"I'll be there, you can mark my words," I said.

"You bet! Oh, I'm running out of time! See you later!" she said, running off.

"Where are you going?" I shouted.

"Blueberry's house!" she shouted back as she disappeared from my sight.

After that, I decided to follow her to Blueberry's house. I only walked though, because I was not in a hurry. When I arrived there I entered and inside I saw not only Raspberry and Blueberry but also Strawberry, Ginger, Orange, Angel, and Lemon.

"Is there a party here and I'm not invited?" I asked with intention of kidding.

"Well, if you want to try one of Blueberry's fancy dress, go on ahead," Raspberry answered with giggle, followed by everyone else's laughter.

"I'll pass of course," I replied with a little laugh.

"By the way, do you want to come to my formal tea party?" Angel asked.

"Formal tea party? With formal clothes? Formal table manners and all?" I asked and she replied with a nod on all questions.

"Tomorrow morning there will be a pretend party at my house to rehearse on how it should be done. Do you want to come?" she asked.

"Hmm... I think I'll pass. Formal parties are not for me," I answered. "And I don't have formal clothes."

"I see. But you will still come for the main festival right?" she asked.

"Definitely," I answered.

Right after that, everyone left the place to get busy on each own task. Because I didn't want to become a bother, I went to Huck's fort and saw him along with Apple there when I arrived.

"Hi, Blackberry! Have you heard about the Berry Blossom Festival?" he asked.

"How can I not hear about it if that's everyone's first question whenever they meet someone else?" I answered with laugh.

"Yeah, and now that Strawberry is very busy, as you can see Apple is with me again," he said.

"Apple Dumplin' want to help Strawberry too," Apple said, seeming upset.

Looking at Apple, I could see that Strawberry still didn't want Apple to help because she thought that Apple was still too little to do any help. Actually she had a point, but I could feel that the constant denial had made Apple upset. I then approached her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, the time will come," I encouraged.

"Time for what?" Apple asked.

"The time when you will be free to help Strawberry as you like," I answered.

"Apple Dumplin' cannot wait for time," she said.

"We need patience for all things, dear," I said. "Anyway, wanna fly around Strawberryland?"

"Apple Dumplin' want to fly! Blackberry can make Apple Dumplin' fly?" she asked.

I brought both Huck and Apple outside the fort and called Falcon using its remote, which I always carried in my pocket along with Key Master, Time Remote Mark II, Inner Heart, and Paraplu. Speaking of them, I was glad that Time Remote Mark II and Falcon's remote were the only ones with relatively large size so I could put each in each side of my pants pocket and squeezed other devices along with them. I had left my walkman in my house because there were no more new songs from Universal Recorder and I had listened to all songs many times.

As Falcon came landing in front of the fort, both Huck and Apple seemed surprised.

"Apple Dumplin' see flying car in Apple Dumplin' dream!" Apple said, recognizing Falcon.

"That vehicle was in my dream too! Does that mean it was not a dream?" Huck said.

Huck's and Apple's sentence struck me like a lightning bolt. I completely forgot that I had to keep Falcon a secret to Huck and Apple as requested by dream fairies. All other people were fine because they had not seen Falcon the first time they had been in the Land of Dreams so knowing about the vehicle would have not revealed the secret.

"Well... no... I mean..." I said while thinking of a way to save the secret.

"What is it?" Huck asked.

"It's a... dream. Yes! It was a dream I made to come true!" I said as I suddenly got an idea.

"Apple Dumplin' not understand," Apple said.

"I dreamed of this vehicle as well, so I made it to make my dream come true," I said, trying to be convincing.

"Oh I see now," Huck said.

"Apple Dumplin' now understand too," Apple said, which made me feel relieved.

"All aboard!" I said as I got inside. The two followed soon after.

The rest of the day was spent flying around Strawberryland. I could hear Huck and Apple pointing at all houses they saw. I also could see some friends walking around but they didn't notice us because I had put invisibility mode on, and Falcon's engine did not make loud noise. The flight ended after all of us watched a beautiful sunset scenery.

At the next day I made another new device I named Blind Spot. It was a badge with the shape of an eye, and whenever I wore it I would become invisible. However, the invisibility only lasted for one hour and then it would need another hour to recharge by itself. I tried wearing it and indeed I became invisible because I couldn't see myself in the mirror. I then removed it and put it in my pocket because somehow I got a feeling that I would need it later on that day.

I then left my house to walk around. It was already midday and I assumed the pretend party at Angel Cake's house had been already over, so I decided to visit Strawberry at her house. In front of the gate of her house I met Custard who seemed to be having her nap. At first I didn't want to bother her but she noticed me.

"Hey, Blackberry," she greeted with half-closed eyes and yawning.

"Is Strawberry here?" I asked.

"Yes, and everyone else as well. But I don't think you want to come in," she answered.

"Why not?" I asked, and suddenly I heard something that seemed to be a fight inside the house.

"Better see for yourself," she said as she started to fall asleep once more. "But don't worry too much. It's not like what you think."

I walked to the house's window and tried looking inside. I couldn't believe what I saw next. I saw Angel Cake licking jam with her finger, Strawberry drinking from a plate, Lemon drinking right from the pitcher, and other gross things.

"Is this what they call formal party...?" I thought, and then I remembered Custard's message. "I better wait and ask later."

Once everybody left, I knocked on the door but there was no response. I knocked it once more and this time Strawberry opened it. She was already in her usual outfit.

"Oh, hi Blackberry," she greeted. "Please come in. Sorry, I was changing my clothes. And also sorry that my house is not in a good shape right now."

"Well, that's what I was going to ask. What happened actually?" I asked, seeing all the mess inside.

Then, She told me about her plan to teach Raspberry that manners actually matter. They had just given Raspberry a party with no manners, and later there would be another party with good manners at Blueberry's place. It was actually a pretty good plan but then I remembered about Peppermint's reaction to Strawberry's plan. Raspberry was not as bad as Peppermint in attitude, but chance still existed.

"I see, but you know... the last time you had a plan..." I said.

"I know, but everything's worth a try," she answered.

"Okay. Oh, I'll help you cleaning all these," I offered.

"Thanks, but don't worry," she refused, and right after that everybody else that was in the party except Raspberry came. Like Strawberry, they were already in their daily outfit.

"That was great, everyone!" Strawberry said.

"You betcha!" Ginger replied.

"It was hard but we did it," Blueberry said.

"Okay, now it's time to clean these up," Angel said.

Right after Angel Cake's words were spoken, everybody got busy on cleaning up the mess they had made themselves. Because it seemed they didn't need any more people, I left the place after saying goodbye and went towards Huck's fort. Like yesterday, Apple was there as well.

"Strawberry told Apple Dumplin' to play outside because Strawberry said the house would become a mess," Huck said.

"That's right. Her house is a mess right now," I said, and I told both of them what had happened and about Strawberry's plan.

"I actually doubt that will work," I remarked. "Raspberry is quite a difficult person to convince."

"I think we have the same thinking," Huck said.

"Apple Dumplin' not sure," Apple said.

"I think they will need this," I said, taking Inner Heart from my pocket.

"What is that?" Huck asked.

"Inner Heart, to seek truth inside a person's heart. If in her heart Raspberry actually wants to have good manners, this will help her letting the feelings out," I answered.

"I see, but even with that we will be still taking chances," Huck said.

"I will go to Blueberry's place to see the situation. I'll tell you later," I said, going to leave the place.

"Good luck," Huck said.

I went to Blueberry's house and she was already there preparing. I helped her a bit and had some talks about Strawberry's plan, but I didn't tell her about my doubt and my plan of using Inner Heart.

"I will watch quietly from upstairs. I hope you all will succeed," I said after the preparations were completed.

Later, while keeping my presence unnoticed, I watched the party going with manners unlike the previous party. Raspberry seemed much happier than before, but I noticed that it probably was because this time she got to eat the cookies and all, not because of good manners. My thought were further proved by her denial when everybody started talking about manners. She got really angry and left the place. As everybody else were still in silence, I went down the stairs.

"It didn't work..." I said, looking at the door Raspberry had just shut. "Just as I thought."

"Well, we tried our best..." Strawberry said.

"Don't give up hope yet, Strawberry," I said as I took Inner Heart from my pocket and left the place.

I then followed Raspberry, not forgetting to put Blind Spot on my shirt first. To make most use of Inner Heart, I had to shot her while she was talking about what just happened, so I kept following her until she finally started to speak to herself.

"I don't see what their problem is!" She spoke to herself. I then aimed Inner Heart at her.

"Why do manners matter so much to them?!" She spoke again, and I shot her. I then watched her with high hopes, and it seemed to succeed because her talk started to change towards the better.

I kept following her while staying invisible, and it turned out she went to Strawberry's house. I watched their conversation in joy because my device was a success after all. Once they went inside, I walked away from the place as Blind Spot started to lose its effect.

I immediately went to Huck's fort to tell him about the success. Apple was still there when I arrived.

"My device was a success," I said happily.

"That's great!" Huck replied.

"Apple Dumplin' happy for Blackberry too," Apple said.

"Now we only have to wait for the main festival," I said. "I think I will go home for now."

"Apple Dumplin' goin' home too," Apple said.

"Okay, see you at the festival," Huck said and the two of us left his fort. I couldn't wait for the festival day to come.

-End of Chapter 15-

Referenced episode: Mind Your Manners. The first episode of Berry Blossom Festival DVD.


	20. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Chasin' Dumplin'

The day of the Berry Blossom Festival had come. In the morning I woke up in excitement for the festival. My heart was determined that it would be an event I would not miss. I immediately had my breakfast, and while I was having it someone rang my doorbell. I wondered for a while because it was uncommon to have a guest that early but I opened the door anyway and it turned out that the guests were Apricot, Peppermint, and Apple.

"What a surprise! Please come in!" I welcomed them.

"I came to ask if you will go to Berry Blossom Festival," Apricot said.

"Yes of course! That's an event I won't miss!" I replied.

"Apple Dumplin' met Apricot, and Apple Dumplin' go with Apricot," Apple said.

"Strawberry was not with you?" I asked.

"She had to attend a tea party as the opening of the festival. Hmph, formal things are not for me," Peppermint said.

"And not for me either," Apricot said. "I always become timid in events like such,"

"Me too actually. Shall we go now?" I said.

"I don't think so. The real festival will be right before midday, unless you want to sit and wait there until they finish their tea party. Boring if you ask me," Peppermint said.

"Yeah, that would be uncool," Apricot said.

"I see. Then make yourselves at home," I said.

All of us waited in my house for the main part of the festival to start. In the meantime we had some talks and played with some of my devices. Apple seemed to walk around my house on her own.

"By the way, I went to Rainbow's place before meeting Apple Dumplin' and Apricot," Peppermint said, randomly lifting things with Telekinator. "She won't come to the festival."

"Oh, why is that?" I asked.

"Her boat's engine suddenly broke down making smokes and leaking oil. She said repairing it would take the whole day," she answered.

"Couldn't she repair it tomorrow?" Apricot asked, copying some random things with Replicator.

"I told her that, but that kid told me the oil coming out would dirty the river if she didn't repair it immediately," Peppermint replied.

"Then I think I will help her. With me helping her she might make it to the festival today," I said.

"Yeah, indeed," Apricot said. "I'll try to help too."

"Let's get going then, if you say so," Peppermint said.

When all of us had gone down the ladder, I felt that something was missing but I couldn't recall it.

"Are we missing something?" I asked.

"Yeah, I feel it too," Apricot said.

"Come on you two! Don't you realize that we are missing one person?" Peppermint said.

"Oh yes, we forgot Apple!" I said, facepalming. "I'll go get her."

I climbed the ladder again, then when I opened the door and looked inside, I couldn't believe what I saw. I saw a dimension door in the middle of the living room. Apple probably had played around with Time Remote Mark II which I had left in the shelf that day. I quickly ran towards the dimension door because there was no other way to get her back, but it was too late. The dimension door disappeared right at the time I attempted to jump into it, leaving me hitting the floor. Right after that the other two girls came in.

"Hey, what happened?" Apricot asked.

"Where's that kid?" Peppermint asked. There was a brief silence.

"She's gone..." I answered, getting up.

"Gone? Gone where?" Peppermint asked. There was another brief silence.

"I don't know..." I replied.

"What do you mean?" Apricot asked. Another brief silence came.

"She...she...played around with...Time Remote Mark II..." I answered.

"What?!" Apricot said, surprised.

"I don't know where she went, or to what time..." I said, starting to panic.

"Hey, I don't know your problem but panicking will not help. Calm down and think of something," Peppermint said.

She was right about that. Panicking would not help at all. I then started to calm down and think of a way. I then remembered about Time Monitor, which I had not touched at all since the accident that had happened to Huck. Because Time Remote Mark II was made from the original Time Remote, Time Monitor might still worked. I quickly took it from the shelf and put it on a table, then I turned it on.

"I hope we can get some information from this," I said.

In the monitor all of us saw Apple playing around while holding Time Remote Mark II.

"Listen carefully to anything she says," I said.

"Okay," Apricot said.

However, probably because of Time Remote Mark II being not the same device Time Monitor was supposed to monitor, the voices coming out were quite unclear. We attempted quite a number of rewinds to hear what Apple Dumplin' had said before the remote made the dimension door.

"Is the last word `Home`?" I said, wondering.

"Yeah, I think so too," Apricot said.

"Does that mean she is at Strawberry's house now?" Peppermint asked.

"No, I didn't make the remote to recognize the person holding it. She must be somewhere else now. A place called `Home`," I said.

"Okay, now we know where she is going to, but how can we get her?" Peppermint asked.

"Can you make another remote?" Apricot asked.

"I can, but it will take two days. It will be too late," I answered. "Ah, Ginger!"

"What's with Ginger?" Peppermint asked.

"She has a remote with the same function!" I answered, climbing down the ladder bringing Falcon's remote. I quickly revealed Falcon from its invisibility and got onboard. Peppermint and Apricot also followed me quickly and went onboard as well.

"You don't have to go along. The trip might be dangerous," I said.

"There's no way I would not help a friend in need," Apricot said.

"I haven't apologized for what I had done to her," Peppermint said, although I could feel that it was not the main reason.

I quickly flew Falcon Towards Ginger's house. I even rushed the landing that it almost crashed to the ground. I then ran into the cookie factory because I knew Ginger had been keeping her remote somewhere inside it.

"Is it okay to just come in?" Apricot asked when we got inside. "And shouldn't we tell everyone about this?"

"This is an emergency. I will apologize later, and there is no need to spread the panic to more people," I answered, and at the same time found Ginger Snap's Dimension Door Remote.

I then typed `Home` and drew a circle with its antenna. A dimension door was formed and we all jumped in. When we came out, we were inside some kind of building with quite a number of adult people looking at us in confused face.

"Err... We come in peace," I said to whoever heard it.

"Who are you and where did you come from?" one person asked and approached us. The man was middle-age and had no hair on his head, his face was quite scary but still had some kindness.

"It's difficult to explain. We just come looking for a little girl of this height in yellow dress with images of apples on it," I answered, explaining the looks of Apple.

"I see... indeed there was a little girl here with the same traits as you just explained," the man said.

"That's a relief! Where is she now?" Apricot asked with excitement.

"She's in my room now. It seems she was afraid of us, so I let her rest there for now," the man answered. "Come with me now."

With relief we followed the man walking inside the building. There was a conversation along the way.

"By the way, you haven't answered my question," the man said.

"Well, our names might sound weird for you," I replied.

"I wouldn't be surprised, the girl said her name was Apple Dumplin' or something like that. I suppose all your names are like that?" the man said.

"Well, indeed. I'm Blackberry Bun," I replied.

"I'm Apricot," Apricot said.

"Hmph... Peppermint Fizz," Peppermint said.

"I see... My name is Cid. Pleased to meet you all," the man said.

"By the way, what is this place if I may ask?" I asked.

"This is the building where all of us, the Al Bhed, live. We call this building `Home`," he replied.

"Al Bhed? What is that?" Apricot asked.

"Our race. There are other kinds of races outside. Guado, Ronso, and Hume for example. I think Humes are the ones resembling you all the most," he answered.

Not long after, we arrived in front of the door which Cid addressed as his room where he kept Apple. When he opened it, we were surprised that instead of Apple we saw a dimension door.

"Quick! Jump in before it disappears!" I told Apricot and Peppermint. "I wish I could stay for longer Mr. Cid, But we have to chase her. Farewell!"

All three of us jumped into the dimension door, leaving Cid without proper farewell. I could hear him wishing us luck though. When we came out, we realized that we were in a dark alley. We were lucky that this time nobody saw us, but we still couldn't find Apple.

"Okay, now where are we now?" Peppermint said, looking around. "It's so dark in here."

"Let's just keep looking for her," I said.

We kept walking in the dark alley without any result. We even thought that we got lost in the alley because occasionally we saw an area familiar to us. I didn't know how long we had been walking, but it felt really long.

"I can't take this anymore. We have been walking for so long without finding either Apple or a way out of this alley," Apricot complained.

"Face it. We're lost here," Peppermint said.

I couldn't speak any words out. Even I started to feel a frustration in my mind. The situation seemed grave, but suddenly I saw something that looked like a house.

"Look! There's a house there!" I said.

"A house in this dark alley? Yeah right," Peppermint said.

"Let's go there. Apple might be there as well," Apricot said.

We walked to the house, and as we came closer, we realized that it was not a house but an antique store. We entered it anyway and saw that inside the store there was a lot of shelves filled with various things such as puppets, marrionetes, toys, and other things.

"Whoa, look at these things!" Apricot said, astonished.

"Come on, they are just pieces of junk," Peppermint said.

"I don't think so. They still look good," I remarked. "And there's no dust on them. Somebody must be taking good care of them all."

"Is anybody here?" Apricot shouted. There was no answer at all.

"This store is starting to scare me. Let's get out of here," Peppermint said.

"But we still don't know if Apple is here or not," I replied.

"Come on! She should have heard Apricot shouting if she has been here," she said.

However, suddenly all the puppets started to move and make noises. Nobody seemed to be moving them. They seemed to move on their own, and little by little the noises they made turned into music.

"This is freaking me out!" Peppermint said.

While we were wondering, someone came from the back of the store. It was a man wearing nice coat, but his face was covered in makeups of a clown. His face was smiling and full of kindness, but he still seemed strange and a little bit scary for us.

"Who are you?" Apricot asked, but the man did not answer.

"Hey, can you speak?" Peppermint said.

The man did not answer at all. But he started to wave his hands in a certain pattern, and the puppets seemed to react on the movements and gradually the music played by the puppets became better. We didn't realize that we actually started to watch him in awe instead of being afraid of him. Later he finished the music and we all clapped hands. Then he took something from one of the shelves and gave it to me. I observed the thing which looked like a treasure chest and opened it. A music came out from it, so I knew it was a music box.

"It's nice, but I can't pay for it," I said, and the man shook his head. "You give this to me?" I continued and he nodded. "Thank you!"

"Could you tell us about a little girl of this height?" Apricot asked. "Have you seen her?" she continued and the man shook his head.

"Oh well, could you show us the way out of this alley?" Peppermint asked and the man pointed to the door. We looked onto it and saw a busy road visible at a distance straight from the antique store.

"Thank you sir! I wish I could repay your kindness," I said as we left the place. I could see him waving his hand for us and we did the same.

We walked towards the exit of the alley into the crowd of the city. Once we were out, all of us looked around and indeed we were in the middle of a city. However, I felt something familiar with the city.

"Something looks familiar..." I said.

"Yeah, I feel that too..." Apricot said.

"While I don't feel something like that. Let's just find her and get back home fast," Peppermint said.

While the two of us were wondering about the familiarity of the city, suddenly a voice greeted us.

"Blackberry! Apricot! It's you!" the voice shouted, and the two of us recognized the voice. We looked upon the source and indeed the voice came from Buddy, who as usual was riding ChaCha.

"You know him?" Peppermint asked. "And also the strange creature he is riding?"

"Peppermint, this is Buddy and ChaCha. Buddy and ChaCha, this is Peppermint Fizz," I said.

"So we are now in Greenhill? How could Apple got here?" Apricot asked.

"I think she pressed the history button. I saved this world in the remote so I can just press the button whenever I want to visit this world again," I said.

"I'm happy to see you again. There are still a lot of things to show to you. But where are Lemon Meringue and Raspberry Torte?" Buddy asked.

I explained to him that we actually came there not for visiting him, but to find Apple Dumplin' who accidentally came. I explained the looks of Apple and asked if Buddy and ChaCha had seen her before.

"No, I haven't seen her," Buddy answered.

"Oh, I guess we have to look for her somewhere else in this city," I said.

"That girl you described sounds like the girl in my house right now," an echoed female voice was heard. Peppermint was the only one not knowing what voice it was.

"That's a relief! Let's go to the house right away!" I said, and we all started walking.

"Hey, who was talking back there?" Peppermint asked me.

"Sarah. My friend," Buddy answered.

"Why I couldn't see her?" she asked again.

"We couldn't see her too. It's hard to see her in the afternoon because...she's a ghost," I answered and Peppermint stopped walking.

"A...ghost? You're friends...with a ghost?" she said.

"Yeah, anything wrong with that?" I said.

"Yes, I mean...no. Err...I mean..." she said timidly.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Well...umm...I'm afraid of ghost..." she said. "Now laugh all you want."

"I won't laugh. It's fine, she's not someone to be scared of," I said.

"Well...alright..." she said with doubt, and we continued walking.

"By the way, Buddy. Have you told anyone the truth about us?" I whispered to Buddy.

"Yes. Sarah, Hippo Truck, Leopard, Cindy..." Buddy answered.

"Pretty much everyone you have met before except Buddy's mom and dad," ChaCha said.

"I see," I said. "By the way, I got this from someone in an antique store," I continued, showing the music box to Buddy.

"Ah, you found the antique store?" Buddy said.

"Something wrong with that?" Apricot asked.

"No. Actually Buddy and I entered that store once, but after that we never found it again," ChaCha said.

"Oh, that's weird," I said.

"It seems that it is a magical store you only can find if you are lost," ChaCha said.

"This city sure has interesting things," I said.

"Greenhill is a city where miracles happen. That's what people say," Sarah said, and I noticed that our destination was in sight.

Just as we arrived, an old lady I had never seen before rushed from the house. She seemed to be panicking.

"Sarah! The little girl!" she shouted, and we had a bad feeling.

"What happened?" I asked.

"A black hole appeared and sucked her into it!" the lady said, still in panic.

All of us rushed inside to the guest room, and we saw a dimension door disappearing right at the time we entered. However, this time I found my Time Remote Mark II lying on the floor. I picked it up and examined it, only to find that it was broken.

"When I asked where she came from, she answered Strawberryland and suddenly that thing created this black hole right next to her!" the lady said.

"And then she was sucked into it?" Sarah asked.

"Yes. I was really afraid and hit that thing with my stick to stop it from making the black hole!" the lady said.

"Oh great. Now we lose our transport," Peppermint said.

"Your transport?" ChaCha asked.

"This remote is what makes our travel to this world and back to our world possible," I said, which surprised the Greenhill residents there. "Don't worry, I still have another one with me."

"Oh, that's a relief. I thought I had made our guests unable to return home!" the lady said.

"Oh yes. I suppose you haven't met her before. She is the lady who lives here as well. I call her Grandma because we are so close and I feel like she is my grandmother. I have told her everything about you all," Sarah said.

"I see. I wish we could stay for longer but we have to chase her. I suppose it's goodbye again," I said, typing Strawberryland with Dimension Door Remote and then drawing a circle with its antenna.

"Please come again someday," Buddy said as a new dimension door appeared.

"I will. Bye for now," I said and the three of us jumped into the dimension door.

We ended up in a forest, but from the surroundings we recognized that we were in Huckleberry Briar. We walked around shouting Apple's name but there was no answer.

"Hey, I think we should just go to the festival. Maybe she has gone there already," Peppermint said.

"You have a point, but I want to go home first to put my remote and this music box there," I said. "You can go to the festival first if you want."

"I will go with you," Apricot said.

"Hmph, me too I guess," Peppermint said.

We walked towards my house in Blackberry Bushes, and when we arrived we saw the little girl we had been looking for standing right there.

"Apple Dumplin'! I'm glad to see you!" I shouted in excitement, running towards her.

"You really made us worried!" Apricot said.

"Apple Dumplin' sorry. Apple Dumplin' play with Blackberry remote," Apple said as I hugged her.

"That's fine. Now you are here, I couldn't care less," I said. "Let's go to the festival now, after I put this remote and music box inside first."

However, when I was going to enter my house I saw that the button to reveal the ladder was not in its place. I walked to the back and found that Arrowhead was not there. I then came back to the three girls who were waiting at the front.

"This is Alternate Strawberryland, not our home" I said.

"What do you mean 'Alternate Strawberryland`?" Peppermint asked. Then, I explained to her about Alternate Strawberryland where everyone were different. Some girls had completely different looks, Strawberry's hair had different color, everyone were slightly older than in Strawberryland, and the fact that I didn't exist in Alternate Strawberryland.

"That means it's a lucky catch that we end up here. Otherwise Apple will be stuck here," Apricot said.

"Yeah, but that's not important now. Now all we have to do is to keep transporting to Strawberryland until we are in the correct Strawberryland where we live," I said.

Even though I had said that, it was easier said than done. At the first try we were transported to Ice Cream Island, where we had to walk for some while until we met Honey Pie Pony there who did not recognize me, which meant we were still in Alternate Strawberryland. The next try transported us to Lower Lollipop and we had to walk again. When we got close to the outfield, we saw a girl we couldn't recognize.

"Who's that girl?" I asked.

"I don't know," Apricot replied.

"You expected me to know? Yeah right," Peppermint said.

"Apple Dumplin' not know," Apple said. Then the girl seemed to notice us and immediately approached us.

"You are... Blackberry Bun?" the girl asked.

"Yes, who are you?" I asked back.

"Strawberry told Apple Dumplin' about you," the girl said. "A friend from a different world."

"You are... Apple Dumplin'?" Apricot asked.

"Yes, Apple Dumplin' is Apple Dumplin'" the girl answered. I scratched my head, seeing that the older Apple Dumplin' still used third person to mention herself, but I decided not to talk about that.

"We're still in the wrong world after all," Peppermint said. "I'm getting tired."

"Me too," Apricot said with a sigh.

"Apple Dumplin' tired," the younger Apple said.

"Me too actually. Let's rest under that tree," I said, pointing at a nearby tree. Then all of us sat down under the tree and had some talks with the older Apple Dumplin'. We forgot about the time and when we realized it, the sun was already setting. We then said goodbye to the older Apple and started our next try. The next try transported us right in front of the tree where my house was supposed to be hidden, and when I examined the tree I found the button to reveal the ladder and pressed it.

"Okay, now we are back in our Strawberryland," I said as the ladder went down and I climbed it.

"That's a relief," Apricot said.

"Now we have missed the festival. That's just great," Peppermint said, looking at the sky which was almost dark.

"Sowry..." Apple said.

"Nah, no need to say sorry," Peppermint replied as I went down the ladder. "Let's go there anyway. We might still be able to see the closing."

All of us then walked towards the place where the Berry Blossom Festival was held. When we arrived there, we saw everyone on the main stage of the festival. Strawberry was wearing something that seemed like a crown instead of her hat.

"Seems we indeed have missed the festival huh?" Peppermint said. "And maybe the closing as well."

"It seems so, but that was quite an exciting adventure we had," I said.

"Yeah, that was totally cool," Apricot said.

"Hmph, yeah I sorta agree with you on that," Peppermint said.

And so, all of us approached the rest of our friends and tried to enjoy what the festival had left to offer.

-End of Chapter 16-

Referenced episode: Queen for A Day. The second episode of Berry Blossom Festival DVD  
Minor crossover with Final Fantasy X game.  
Crossover with Daisuki BuBu ChaCha anime.


	21. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Distressed

It has been one month since the Berry Blossom Festival day, and the blossoms had been replaced by half-ripe berries over the month. I couldn't leave my house that day because I had accidentally twisted my ankle two days before, and two days prior to that I had used Phoenix Tear to heal an injured squirrel so I had to wait until either my ankle healed itself naturally or Phoenix Tear finished recharging. Nobody knew about my injury because I didn't want to worry everyone else, and maybe because of pride as well. I just didn't like being pitied by someone else, let alone by all my friends.

On that day, I decided to repair my Time Remote Mark II. Actually I could just make a new one, but repairing the old one was much faster. The catch was, while repairing I had to be extra careful because it would emit electricity waves in the process of repairing. While I was concentrating on the repair, someone rang the doorbell but I didn't hear it. Because of no response, the guest curiously and quietly opened the door and took a look inside. After that the guest approached me and started a conversation.

"Hey, Blackberry. Working hard?" the guest asked.

"Oh, hi Huck," I replied, stopping my work and turned my chair facing him. "Not really, just doing something to let time pass."

"What is this?" he asked, taking the Time Remote Mark II and ended up getting zapped by the electricity waves.

"Not again..." I said, facepalming.

"Whoa, what was that?" he asked in surprise.

"Something for playing pranks," I said.

"Oh, really?" he asked.

"Of course not! This is my Time Remote Mark II, and I was repairing it. Now you just repeated the accident," I said.

"What accident?" he asked.

"The accident that erased your memory, remember?" I said.

"What?! So I'm going to forget everything about you?! All memories of us will be gone?!" he asked, starting to panic.

"Calm down, I'll check," I replied, taking Time Monitor from the shelf. I then put it on the table in the living room and turned it on. Although it was not so clear, I could see the effect of the shock to Huck.

"What's going to happen to me?" he asked.

"This time it's not so bad. You will only forget the looks of all friends but your memories of them will remain," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, what's my name?" I asked back.

"Of course you are...wait...what's your name? Who are you?" he asked, implying that the memory loss had already happened.

"Blackberry Bun," I said.

"Oh yes! You are Blackberry!" he said. "Now I remember!"

"Now you see what I mean? You still remember that you have a friend with the name `Blackberry Bun` and you still have your memories of him. But you forgot his looks, so even if the person is in front of you, you won't recognize him until he says his name," I explained. "And the same applies to all other people you know."

"I think I understand, but it's still confusing," he said.

"You remember Strawberry Shortcake?" I asked. "All your adventures with her and all?"

"Yes of course," he replied.

"What kind of hat she wears? What color is her shirt and pants? What color is her hair?" I asked.

"Well... I don't know..." He replied, pausing for a brief moment. "Okay, now I understand what you mean, but it will be embarassing if I have to ask for their names again."

"The best thing is if I go with you and whisper their names everytime we see someone, but look at my foot," I said, pointing at my left foot which was covered in bandages. "I accidentally twisted my ankle two days ago and I had used Phoenix Tear two days prior to heal an injured squirrel."

"I guess I have no choice now..." he said.

"Oh wait! Camera Drone!" I suddenly remembered.

"What?" he asked, wondering.

I brought Huck to my bedroom, where I had put the monitor which saved all photos taken by Camera Drone, a device I had made a few days after the first time I had seen the kids who had not been my friends yet. I turned the monitor on and let Huck examine all the photos displayed there. I also told him who had what name and it only took a couple of minutes until Huck memorized them all.

"All right, now the problem is over," I said.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Maybe you'll feel a little bit strange at the first time, but there will be no problem," I said.

"Okay if you say so," he said.

"So far the only photos not saved by this monitor are photos of myself and you," I said.

"Wait, I can understand if there aren't any photos of yourself, but why me too?" he asked.

"I don't know. The drone takes pictures randomly, and it still does," I replied, shrugging. "But it hasn't returned for a very long time. Maybe it broke down somewhere."

Soon after, Huck left my place because he didn't want the strange feelings of memory loss to stay any longer. He headed to the berry fields which Strawberry and some other friends were supposed to tend every midday. Right after he left, I activated Eagle Eye to watch over Huck for that day.

When he arrived at the berry fields, I was surprised that instead of the girls I saw Purple Pie Man there. Huck of course didn't recognize him because I didn't have any photos of Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes from my Camera Drone. I listened to their conversation and learned about a nearby dance studio where Strawberry and the others were. Huck seemed to be convinced to go there so I controlled Eagle Eye to immediately fly to the place.

When the satellite arrived at the place, I could briefly see from the window that the teacher of that studio was no other than Sour Grapes in disguise. However, Pie Man's berry birds were suspicious about the satellite and attempted to attack. I had no other choice than withdrawing it back to the berry fields and see what Pie Man was doing over there, although I could already guess that he was going to steal all the berries.

My guess was true after all. One by one he took the ripe berries from the bushes and loaded them into his carriage. I suspected that the dance studio was made as a distraction so he could freely steal all the berries. However, the amount of berries on the field was very large so if he wanted to completely empty the fields he would need more than one day, maybe even a week. There was nothing I could do because I couldn't even walk out of my house. The accident that had just happened has broken Time Remote Mark II into a pile of useless scrap metal, and I just realized that making a new one was actually impossible at that moment because I ran out of materials. In conclusion, I had no other choice than waiting until I could walk freely again.

The next three days were spent only for waiting and occasionally watching over Pie Man. He had gone through nearly half the berry fields and strangely nobody noticed. I knew that Strawberry, Angel, Orange, Ginger, and Huck were distracted by the fake dance studio, but how about Raspberry, Lemon, Blueberry, Rainbow, Apricot, and Peppermint? With that question in mind I controlled the satellite to fly to each of their home.

The first stop was Blueberry's house. In there I saw her reading books, and there was a big pile of them next to her. It was obvious that she would not get out of her house for the next few days. Then the next stop was Raspberry's house which was also a fitness center, and in there I saw her training hard with one equipment. Once she finished, she took a note and wrote something.

"Okay, this one is still in good condition," she said before sitting on a bench. She seemed quite tired.

"Can't believe there are still a lot of them to be checked. This will take another three days at best," she said, looking at all the equipments around her.

It was clear that Raspberry was out of the question, so I flew the satellite to the next stop: Lemon's house which was also a beauty salon. I saw a lot of dwarfs, fairies and other creatures similar to the ones I had seen in Holidayland although they were all female this time, and they made quite a long queue into the house. I flew the satellite into the house to see what was happening there. Once inside I saw Lemon treating one female dwarf.

Looking at the amount of customers, Lemon was also out of the question, so the next stop was Apricot's house. However, Apricot was nowhere to be found. I gave up looking for her so I flew the satellite to Peppermint's house. Peppermint was also nowhere to be found, so I flew the satellite to the last stop, which was Rainbow's boat. Once again, the person I was looking for was nowhere to be found, and this time I couldn't even find the boat. Wondering about that I flew the satellite high into the sky so I could get wider views on all the rivers in Strawberryland. I searched for a couple of minutes until I finally found her boat. However, there was another boat nearby. The other boat was better said as a junk scrap metal, looking at its very bad condition. I attempted to get a closer look, but once again the satellite was attacked by berry birds so I had to withdraw it.

I thought that there was something with that boat, so I decided to go there and check. Phoenix Tear had recharged, but because my leg has recovered, although there was still some minor pain when walking, I decided not to use it. In preparation for repelling the berry birds I brought Scarecrow with me.

I walked all the way to the place where the boat was. When I came near, I put Scarecrow near a bush and activated it. The device worked perfectly and the berry birds in the area flew away. Then I got onboard the boat and examined it to find any hint about Rainbow's boat nearby. However, when I was looking around, suddenly the berry birds came back and attacked me. They didn't physically attack me, but having them flying around my head with a lot of noise was really annoying. I also wondered why Scarecrow suddenly stopped working but I was too busy driving the birds away myself.

"I suppose this thing of yours is the one driving all my minions away, kid?" a voice said. I looked at the source and it was Pie Man himself. Scarecrow was in the grip of his right hand.

"Uh-oh, busted," I thought, immediately trying to run away. However, because of the berry birds' attack I tripped on something and fell down hard to the wooden floor of the boat's deck.

"Come on, kid. I will not hurt you so bad. That is, if you don't resist," he said, throwing Scarecrow into the river and approaching me.

It was the very first time I directly faced the villain Strawberry and the others had faced bravely. Unlike them, I was afraid of his evil presence and voice. Because of the fright I couldn't do anything so I just decided to bear with anything he would do to me.

He pulled me to make me stand up, but the fall that had just happened apparently had twisted my ankle again, so I immediately fell down again with pain in my left leg. He seemed to notice the pain.

"You're hurt, kid?" he asked, and I didn't answer. Then he sighed and said, "Get on my back!"

He turned around and crouched so I could get on his back. Because I had no other choice anyway I decided to obey and got on his back. He then carried me on his back towards Rainbow's boat. Once we were onboard, he put me on one of the chairs in the main deck and went into the cabins. Shortly later he came back bringing a first aid box.

"Show me your leg," he said, opening the box. "You're lucky that the girl has one of these."

The next few minutes were spent for him giving treatment to my leg. A big question appeared in my head, which was why the evil Purple Pie Man did something that nice to me? I had been thinking that he was a no good villain who caused nothing but trouble to Strawberryland, but right at that moment I became very confused.

"Done. Be thankful that when I was little I had a sister who often got injured," he said as he finished. I was still speechless.

"Don't get me wrong kid. I did this just to make sure that you will still be fine once I release you later," he said.

I didn't resist at all when he later tied my hands and threw me into the storage room of Rainbow's boat. He then immediately shut the trap door tight and locked it firmly. The light inside the storage room was quite dim and I could not see much in there.

"All right, now Blackberry is here. Who will be next?" a voice said, which I recognized as Peppermint. I looked upon the source and I saw not only her, but also the other two missing girls, Rainbow and Apricot. Their hands were also tied to the back like me, except Rainbow whose hands were tied to the front.

"Probably I'm the last. The others are too busy for themselves," I said. "May I know what happened to you all?"

"Well, I was sailing around Strawberryland when I saw this strange boat. I anchored Rainbow Float and walked onto it to check, and when I was looking around I got attacked by these strange birds and then that man caught me," Rainbow answered. "That happened two days ago I think."

"Hmph, I saw him stealing all berries in the berry fields, but when I was going to tell that to everyone else his birds noticed and attacked me. And you know what happened next," Peppermint said. "It happened yesterday."

"I'm the same as Peppermint, but it happened this morning," Apricot said.

"I guess we are all stuck here until who knows when, huh?" Peppermint said. "That no good Pie Man!"

"Umm... I don't know if you will believe this but..." I said as I told them all about what had happened to me.

"He did that? So after all he has a good side too," Apricot said.

"But don't be fooled. Look at what he did to us, and to Strawberryland," Peppermint said.

"Yeah, but still..." I said, pausing for a moment. "Anyway, we have to find a way to get out of here and tell everyone."

"I know, but you see, this knot is too tight. I cannot release it," Rainbow answered, looking at the ropes which tied her hands. "And the door is locked from the outside."

"Hmm... By the way, don't you feel hungry after being locked here for two days?" I asked Rainbow.

"This storage room has plenty of food for us to eat, and he knows it," she answered, and I looked around. Indeed there was a lot of food in there. "Glad that he tied my hands to the front so I could still grab the food and help everyone else."

"Why only you? Why not all of us so we can just help ourselves when we want to eat? It's sorta embarassing you know, having you to feed me," Peppermint said.

"I feel the same too, but do we have any choice?" Apricot said.

"Okay, calm down everyone. I know a way to get out of here," I said. "But we have to do it fast or the berry birds will get in the way."

"What? How?" Peppermint asked.

"Rainbow, can you take something from my pocket? It looks like a key," I told Rainbow, and she dug through my pocket until she found Key Master.

"This?" Rainbow asked, showing me the device.

"Yes. Okay, here's the plan. You see the purple button on that device?" I said.

"Hmm...yes," she replied.

"Aim the device to the trap door above and press the button. The door will open," I said.

"But the birds will notice," she said.

"That's why I said we must do it fast. Once the door is opened, quickly go to the cockpit of this boat with Peppermint and Apricot, and sail this boat away as soon as possible," I replied.

"How about you?" she asked.

"I can't walk well you see? Only the three of you can do it," I answered.

"Sounds worth a try. Better than doing nothing," Peppermint remarked.

"Yeah, that will be cool," Apricot said. "I will take care of the anchor."

"Okay, you ready?" I said.

"Yeah," all three girls answered.

"Then let's do it," I said.

As planned, Rainbow pressed Key Master's overcharge button which then made the device shot a laser beam to the trap door above. Then the door opened and the three girls climbed the stairs with haste. Because of my leg, I only could follow them by walking slowly. By the time I got out of the storage room I saw Rainbow and Peppermint in the cockpit preparing to sail away while Apricot was trying to raise the anchor. I could see them having difficulties because they had to do everything with tied hands. I looked towards another direction and noticed a flock of berry birds coming.

"The birds are coming! Hurry!" I shouted.

"We are ready here! Apricot, raise the anchor now!" Rainbow replied

"I'm on it!" Apricot replied, still struggling to raise the anchor. "Come help me, someone!"

While trying to ignore the pain on my leg, I quickly approached Apricot and helped her in raising the anchor. It was still difficult but the anchor finally emerged from the water surface. The boat then started to move and sailed away just in time. We all cheered in joy as we knew we had escaped from Pie Man's grasp. Then Rainbow took a scissor from one shelf and used it to cut the ropes on our hands. However, the joy did not last long because later Rainbow realized something.

"The wheel is not working!" she said.

"What?! We will end up in open seas if it keeps going this way!" Peppermint shouted.

"I can't even turn off the engine now! It looks like it has been sabotaged!" Rainbow said.

"That no good Pie Man!" Peppermint said. "Drop the anchor now!"

Apricot dropped the anchor, but because it was dropped while the boat was sailing in high speed the rope couldn't stand the force made by the speed of the boat and broke, leaving the anchor at the bottom of the river. The boat slowed down for a moment but then it sped up again towards the open seas.

"Now that's just great," Peppermint said.

"Our only option is to repair the engine and the wheel now," Rainbow said.

"Can you do it?" Apricot asked.

"I'll try, although I don't know how long it will take," Rainbow replied.

"I'll help," I offered.

Repairing the engine was easier said than done. Because we had to repair it while it was still running, some parts were too dangerous to reach. There was no other choice than breaking the engine down with force and violence, and then repair it again. The whole process took two nights, and by the time the boat was finally ready to sail again I could bet that Pie Man had already emptied the berry fields. I regretted not bringing Falcon's remote with me, but what was done was done and we sailed back to Punch Bowl Pond anyway.

"Hey, how can you dock the boat if you have no anchor now?" I asked Rainbow.

"I have another, but I need help bringing it from the storage room because it is much heavier than the one that we lost," she answered.

"I'll help," Apricot said.

"Yeah okay, I will help too," Peppermint said.

The three of them went down to the storage room and came back with a new anchor. I could see them struggling to bring it to its place. That time I wished that I had brought Telekinator, but because I didn't I could only watch. Once the boat was anchored, we all got off and decided to tell Strawberry about Pie Man's evil plan although we knew it was already too late.

"Wait! Blackberry, he cannot walk," Apricot said.

"Don't worry. I will catch up later. Just go now," I replied.

"Hmph, I will go with you," Peppermint said, and everyone else agreed.

Peppermint and I walked towards my house first because I had to heal my leg with Phoenix Tear first. Once we arrived in front of the tree, I unhid the ladder and climbed to the inside of my house. In there I immediately used Phoenix Tear on my leg and walked back out to catch up with Rainbow and Apricot.

"Maybe they are still in the fake dance studio. I forgot to tell Rainbow and Apricot about that," I said.

"Oh, that Rita Rutabaga... I suppose she is Sour Grapes in disguise huh?" Peppermint said.

"You knew?" I asked.

"Strawberry told me about that studio. She invited me to come along but I was not interested," she replied.

"Oh I see..." I said.

The two of us went to the dance studio assuming that Strawberry and the others were there. When we arrived there we saw the main five waving hands to Sour Grapes, who also waved her hand to them. What we saw had left a big question in our mind, so after Sour Grapes disappeared from sight we approached the main five. By coincidence Apricot and Rainbow arrived with us as well.

"Hey Blackberry, Peppermint, Apricot, Rainbow," Strawberry greeted.

"Once again you missed something awesome, am I right? You often miss things, am I right again?" Ginger said.

"How can we not miss it if we had been locked up by Pie Man?" Peppermint said, which surprised all the main five. Then the four of us told them what had happened to each of us.

"But never mind that. We all are here safe and sound now," I said and the other three agreed with me.

"Now I want to ask about what just happened. You know, that Sour Grapes..." I said.

From Strawberry I learned that Sour Grapes had softened up and turned into their side. She had helped them to sneak the stolen berries out of Pie Man's carriage and in exchange put sunflowers in. However, I doubted if it would last for long. Sour Grapes was Pie Man's sister, and the bonds between siblings were not something that can be easily ignored. However, because for that moment all had ended well, I decided to put that aside. I could only hope for the best of the two siblings...

-End of Chapter 17-

Referenced episode: Everybody Dance. The first episode of Let's Dance DVD. The episode is also known as Dancin' in Disguise


	22. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Reunion Dream

Summer had come once again. None of us had heard any more news about Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes, and they were yet to come again to Strawberryland. Over these weeks I had remade Scarecrow and also had repaired Time Remote Mark II although I had promised myself not to use it again unless needed, looking at its low reliability. All in all, things have been going normally without anything special after the time I was locked up by Pie Man along with Peppermint, Rainbow, and Apricot.

One day, I decided to visit Ginger at her house. I thought maybe she would give me some inspirations for new devices because I haven't had any idea at all until then. I walked all the way to Cookie Corners without any trouble, and when I arrived at her house she was nowhere to be found. I thought that maybe she was in her cookie factory so I went there. My thought was right because as I approached the factory I started to hear noise of someone working. I then entered the factory and saw Ginger making some kind of device.

"Hi, Ginger. What are you making now?" I asked.

"Oh hi, Blackberry. I'm now making something that will be great! Yep it sure will!" she answered.

"Oh, do you need help?" I asked.

"Well, I will make this in the same amount as our friends, so maybe you can look at me making one and then you can make more of them for me, huh will ya Blackberry?" she replied.

"Eh, okay." I said.

Actually I could just go back home and take Replicator to make copies of the device, but I thought that it wouldn't be interesting so I approached her and took a closer look at the thing she was making. At first I didn't know what it was, but as she made progress I started to realize it.

"Ginger...isn't this a TV?" I asked.

"Yep it sure is, but my real newest invention won't be just this. There will be more so just wait and see will ya huh?" she said.

"If it is really just a TV, I can start right away." I said.

"Okay, the materials are right there. Go ahead and use them as you like." she replied.

I was a little bit disappointed because the device she was making was no more than an ordinary TV. I had thought that it would had been something great like she had said to me, but because I had agreed I went to her material shelves and started making more TVs.

"Oh, and make them different for each friend will ya Blackberry? Same shape will be boring am I right?" she said.

"All right, got it." I replied.

In the next few hours we were done making televisions for everybody in Strawberryland, with different shapes for each friend. Delivery was not hard at all with the help of my Falcon and Telekinator. After we were done with deliveries, I wondered what would be the use of the TVs, especially that there were no TV stations anywhere nearby. The simple antenna each TV had would not be enough to get any channels. After the last delivery, which was my own house, I asked Ginger about that.

"By the way, what will be the use of the TVs?" I asked.

"What else huh Blackberry? For watching of course am I right?" she answered.

"I mean, there are no stations anywhere nearby. I doubt the antenna each TV has will be enough." I said.

"That's why I said my invention wouldn't be just that, isn't it?" she said.

"You're going to make your own station? Cameras, lights and all?" I asked.

"Yep that's what I'll do. Yessire!" she replied with excitement.

"Okay, good luck with that." I said.

After she left, I tried turning on the TV and saw that the antenna was indeed not enough to get any channels. I then turned it off and lied down on my bed hoping that I would get an idea of something interesting to do. After thinking for a while I fell asleep without getting any idea.

In that sleep, I dreamt about a sea of stars and I was flying through them in high speed. In the flight I saw not only the stars but also a comet flying around, planets with and without rings, asteroids, and all in all they made a very beautiful view. While I was enjoying the scenery suddenly I saw a huge comet flying right to me. I was very afraid of the impact I would have with the comet and because of the panic I only could stay there and brace myself. At the very last second I woke up from my bed.

"What a dream..." I said to myself. Then I suddenly remembered something about dream but still couldn't get it from the top of my head. After thinking for some more seconds I remembered about the Land of Dreams. It had been a very long time since the time I, along with Raspberry and Lemon, had been exiled from the place. I had a thought about visiting the place again, so I went to Raspberry's and Lemon's house to ask if they would come along with me.

"Visiting Land of Dreams?" Raspberry asked after I told her. "Aren't we... exiled from there?"

"I know, but at least we can try right?" I replied.

"Hmm... sounds interesting. I kinda miss PJ, Sandman, and others too," she said.

"Let's ask Lemon too and then we can go," I said.

Both of us then went to Lemon's house. She also doubted it at first but in the end she was convinced and the group was complete.

"Only three of us?" Lemon asked.

"Can't be helped. We are the only ones who know that the place is really real. Additional people will mean additional break to their rule, and I think we have to respect that," I replied.

"Their silly rule..." Raspberry said, sighing. "But yeah... can't be helped."

"How do we get there?" Lemon asked.

"Of course we cannot use Falcon because there's no sleepbug at this time of day, so I'm thinking of using this," I said, taking Time Remote Mark II from my pocket.

"Okay, let's try it," Raspberry said.

"Land of Dreams!" I spoke to the remote, and it made a dimension door we jumped in.

When we came out, it turned out that the remote had done a very good job. We recognized the area where we were as the bottom level of Land of Dreams because we could see PJ's building and the Dream Fort in front of us. We then immediately walked to PJ's building and like before she opened the door and welcomed us with her usual pencil and notepad.

"Blackberry Bun, Raspberry Torte, and Lemon Meringue. Welcome to PJ's. Please have a seat," She said, and when we did what she had said a glass of sundae appeared in front of each of us.

"You sure can read our mind. Indeed the weather was really hot out there," I commented.

"You sure like to bend our rules huh?" a voice said from the door. All of us recognized the voice and looked towards the source. Indeed it was Mary Midnight.

"Mary! I'm happy to see you again!" I said.

"I'm happy to see you again too," Raspberry said.

"And me too," Lemon said.

"Yeah okay. Just enjoy your sundae first and we can talk later," Mary replied with a little giggle. We did what she said and the conversation continued afterwards.

"Okay, now that we are done, what do you want to say?" Raspberry asked Mary.

"You know for yourselves that you are all exiled. According to Article 1C paragraph 21, exiled individuals who enters the Land of Dreams again are obliged to leave immediately," Mary answered.

"And if we refuse?" Raspberry asked.

"Paragraph 22: refusal is not an option. Those who refuse will be forced to leave by all authorities of Dream Fairy Fields," Mary replied. There was a brief silence and I could see Raspberry's and Lemon's face changing towards the worse. Mary then continued her speech. "However, the Queen has the right to postpone it and let the exiled individuals to stay for a while as her majesty sees fit."

Raspberry and Lemon noticed the last sentence and their face seemed hopeful. That also happened to my face as I heard those. Mary then continued again by saying, "You are lucky that Her Majesty was in her generous mood once again. Her Majesty allowed you to stay until Strawberryland's bed time."

Hearing those of course made us happy. For a moment I had thought our visit would be very short, but bed time was still quite a number of hours ahead so we had enough time to walk around the Land of Dreams.

"Blackberry, I'll be your fairy during your stay. Now you can use Dream Power anytime you want in the Land of Dreams," Mary said.

"Dream Power?" I asked.

"Well, try believing that you can fly," she replied and I tried doing that. Mary waved her wand and suddenly a jetpack appeared on my back, bringing me to fly around the room. "Your dream is full of mechanical things so that's what appears for you."

"Hey, forgot about us?" Raspberry interrupted.

"We can't use Dream Power..." Lemon said, repeatedly seemed trying to gather some kind of power like the last time in Dream Fairy Fields. It was of no success, but suddenly she transformed into what she once had described as Princess of Fairies.

"Who said we forgot you?" a voice said from somewhere.

"Of course you are not forgotten. It's just that we come a bit late," another voice said.

"Daisy! Diana! Late as always huh?" Mary said, and two fairies appeared near Raspberry and Lemon. Unlike Mary who was themed on dark blue, the two fairies were themed on orange color with same dress. The only difference easily noticed from them was that one had long wavy hair like Blueberry while the other's hair was short and spiky, very similar to Strawberry Shortcake.

"You're the one too concerned about time!" the one with long hair answered. "It's not that we're late so much."

"That thought in your head is what makes stray nightmares escape easily, Daisy!" Mary said. "Now I wonder why Her Majesty made you and Diana chiefs!"

"It's us who wonder why Her Majesty made chief out of someone as narrow-minded as you!" the other of the two, who seemed to be Diana, said.

Mary then flew towards the other two fairies and then each of them made a scary glare from her eyes pointed towards each other. It was a two-on-one against Mary, but she seemed not afraid. The glare kept going for a moment without any of us saying anything to them, and then suddenly all three of them started to smile. Soon after that they burst into laughter.

"Almost everyday like this, and always end up the same," Mary said.

"Very true," the two fairies answered at the same time.

"I don't know why Her Majesty chose us, but Her Majesty has put her trust on us and we must not let her down," Mary said. "Oh, and why don't you do a proper introduction to our guests?"

"Oh, I see. Hello everyone. My name is Daisy Dawn, the chief of dream fairies. Pleased to meet you all," one of the two said.

"And my name is Diana Dusk, also the chief of dream fairies. Pleased to meet you all," the other of the two said.

"Three chiefs? I thought there's only one chief," I said, wondering.

"You know that your planet is round right? Also about the time zones and all?" Mary asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"I don't know," Raspberry said.

"Me neither," Lemon said.

"Well, to make it simple, now it is still midday in Strawberryland, but on the other side of the planet it is still midnight," I explained.

"Oh I see now," Raspberry said. Lemon also nodded, implying that she understood it too.

"And to make myself simple, while I rest they work, while Daisy rest me and Diana work, and while Diana rest me and Daisy work. It rotates everyday so the works of dream fairies continue while none will not suffer from lack of sleep," Mary said.

"But now you are all here," I remarked.

"Her Majesty ordered us to watch over the guests during their stay, and in the meantime another fairy will replace each of us," Daisy said.

"Cut all the talk. You have plenty of hours to spend, but that doesn't mean your time is infinite. Make good use of the time while you have it," Mary said.

"I wanna fly around the Land of Dreams!" Lemon said, starting to fly around the room in her fairy princess form.

"I'd like to see the Dream Factory. I didn't get the chance the last time I was here," I said.

"I still don't know where to go. But, at least I want to be able to fly too," Raspberry said, starting to concentrate. Diana waved her wand and a pair of bat wings appeared on Raspberry's back.

"What? Why do I have the wings of the nightmares?" Raspberry said, seeming upset.

"Can't be helped. Your dream is full of nightmares, or at least it was. Even though you have turned them into good dreams, some memories might still remain," Diana answered, which didn't make Raspberry feel any better. I couldn't take it anymore so I started to speak.

"Those are bat wings Raspberry, not nightmare wings," I said.

"What's the difference?" Raspberry asked.

"Remember what Mary once said: Nightmares are entities without definite shape. They are often seen as bats because for unknown reason they are fond of that shape," I said. "I just can't stand it that bats often get misunderstood. They are just animals like birds and butterflies."

"Alright. But that doesn't change the fact that..." she said, pausing for a moment and sighing. "I don't like these wings,"

"It's yourself who can change that, Raspberry. I only can materialize your dream," Diana said.

"I'll try," Raspberry said, concentrating once more. Diana waved her wand but nothing happened. Raspberry let out a sigh and said, "I guess I have to live with this,"

Soon after that, all was settled and the three of us separated. Each of us went to the place we wanted to visit: Lemon went towards the Dream Fort with Daisy, Raspberry said she wanted to visit Dream Fairy Fields once more so she flew towards the second level of the Land of Dreams with Diana, and I wanted to see the Dream Factory.

"PJ said I need to ride a butterscotch butterfly to get there. Wouldn't this jetpack enough?" I asked Mary.

"Try and see for yourself," Mary replied, yawning.

"Something wrong? You look tired," I said, noticing tired expressions on her face.

"Oh, nothing. Really," She replied.

"Okay if you say so..." I said.

I then tried flying to the top level of the Land of Dreams where the Dream Factory was located. On the way I kept noticing Mary yawning and almost fell asleep several times. I then decided that I would talk to her once I arrived at the Dream Factory.

Later I successfully landed at the Land of Dreams' top level, and I immediately started a conversation as the jetpack vanished from my back.

"Is that the Dream Factory?" I asked, looking at a big building on a distance.

"Yes of course. What else?" Mary answered, yawning.

"Mary, you should go home and rest." I said.

"Eh, why should I?" she asked.

"I know it. Now is supposed to be your rest time right?" I asked back.

"Eh, no. I mean..." she said timidly.

"You can't hide it from me. You have been yawning several times and almost fall asleep while flying." I remarked.

"Okay...you're right... I'm supposed to sleep at this time." she confessed.

"Why staying awake just for me? I mean, aren't there anyone else?" I asked.

"Only chiefs are strong enough to give Dream Power... to someone who has been here... more than once..." she replied.

"Go home and rest. I don't need Dream Power to visit the Dream Factory." I said.

"I can't... I..." she said.

"Keep staying awake is not good. Believe me, I have experienced it," I said.

In the end I managed to convince her to go home and rest. After she left I walked towards the Dream Factory on my own. Once I arrived to the front door I knocked on it and there was no response. I tried pushing it and apparently it was not locked. I entered the factory and walked inside.

Inside the factory was very confusing. I was in a corridor with a lot of doors on each side. I tried opening some of them but all of them were locked. I kept walking through the corridor, occasionally trying to open doors with no success.

"This factory doesn't feel like a factory at all," I thought when suddenly one door I tried opening was apparently not locked like other doors. I then entered the room.

The room was dark because the lighting was poor. I coughed and sneezed several times because of the amount of dust in the room. I thought of leaving the room as soon as possible, but suddenly my eyes noticed something. I walked towards the thing and took it. It was the same doll I saw in Raspberry's hug when she fell asleep on Ginger's Dream Boat along with everyone else. How could the doll end up there? I then decided to bring the doll with me and ask Raspberry later about it.

I came out of the room and it turned out some people had been waiting there. All of them were boys and girls similar to those I had seen in my first visit. However, one of them was a fat old man with thick beard and moustache.

"Well well, we have a visitor here," the old man said. "Friend of Strawberry Shortcake I suppose. Blackberry Bun isn't it?"

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Because there are lots of things we know, dear," a voice said, which I recognized as PJ, and it really was her.

"Come with us. We'll take you around my Dream Factory," the old man said.

"He is Sandman, the owner of the factory, and also the one who built the factory with his own hands," PJ said.

"I know every inch of this place," Sandman said, walking away along with the children.

"That's kinda the help I need right now," I said, following him. PJ left us afterwards.

With the help of Sandman, I got to see the Dream Factory as it was meant to be. All the machines and mechanical things inside were a pleasant sight for me. I got to see how the Dream Builders make the dreams for everyone on the planet. Sandman also told me everything that happened when Pie Man came and also how Strawberry and the others helped him to end the problem. I was looking around the production room when the window opened and someone entered.

"Look! The wings! It's a giant nightmare!" one boy yelled, and panic was spread throughout the room. It seemed Sandman and I were the only ones who were still calm because we knew that it was actually Raspberry.

"This is why I don't like these wings," Raspberry said as she landed and the wings vanished. "I caused that panic in Dream Fairy Fields as well."

"Yeah, I can see that. By the way, why did you come here?" I asked as the panic started to end.

"Because we met Mary in the Dream Fairy Fields. She told me everything and I felt that I was done visiting so me and Diana agreed to come to you," Raspberry answered.

"I'll try giving Dream Power to both of you. Although I can't promise it," Diana said.

"Why is that?" Raspberry asked.

"Mary told me that giving Dream Power becomes more difficult to those who have visited more than once," I answered.

"That's correct. I was here when you had your battle with Pie Man, and I could give Dream Power to all of you that time. But now I doubt if I can give it to you both at the same time," Diana said to Raspberry.

"By the way Raspberry, this doll..." I said, showing her the doll I had found before.

"My doll! But how...?" Raspberry said, taking the doll from me and then hugging it.

"Oh... well, I... umm..." Diana said timidly.

"Yeah I know. The fairies took it to keep the secret," Raspberry said, still hugging the doll.

"Yeah that's right. I was the one who took it. I'm sorry..." Diana said.

"May I keep it this time after I go home?" Raspberry asked.

"I have to ask Her Majesty. Wait a moment," Diana answered, and then she started to concentrate. A few minutes later she opened her eyes and said, "Her Majesty approved it. You may keep the doll with you,"

"Oh, thank you so much," Raspberry said, hugging the doll again.

"By the way, it's almost time. We must leave now," Diana said.

We all then went to the front of the Dream Factory. Sandman went along with us because the inside of Dream Factory was like a labyrinth and he had to show us the way. When we arrived at the front, it was time for me and Raspberry to fly to the bottom level.

"You first, Raspberry," Diana said and Raspberry started to concentrate. A pair of wings appeared but this time they were butterfly wings.

"My wings! The nightmare wings are gone!" Raspberry said happily, and Diana also smiled.

"Bat wings, but whatever..." I said quietly so nobody heard it.

"Your turn, Blackberry," Diana said and I started to concentrate. However, nothing happened. "My power is not enough. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I can walk," I said.

"You don't have to, son," Sandman said and he whistled. Soon one giant butterfly came. "My butterscotch butterfly will give you a ride."

I got on the butterfly's back and then it started to fly leaving the Dream Factory. I waved my hand to Sandman and he did the same. The ride to the bottom level of the Land of Dreams was as breathtaking as the ride I had on Santa Claus' sleigh. I also noticed that Raspberry also enjoyed her flight with her new wings while hugging her doll.

We later arrived at PJ's. Lemon was already there waiting with Daisy on her side, and she was already in her usual form. PJ was also there standing beside Lemon. As Raspberry landed her wings disappeared and I also got off the butterfly as soon as it landed.

"I hope you have had a great time my dears," PJ said. "We will miss you,"

"Me too," Raspberry said.

"It was really great!" Lemon said.

"I will miss this place too," I said, taking my remote from my pocket. I then pressed a new button I had made. The function of the button was to make an exact copy of the dimension door previously made, so that meant we would be transported back to Lemon's house, in correct time and correct Strawberryland without any doubts.

A dimension door appeared and the three of us waved our hands to PJ and the two fairies. They did the same and we jumped into the dimension door. When we came out we were indeed in Lemon's house.

"The repeat button worked well," I said.

"Let's go home. I'm tired now," Raspberry said, yawning. "Thanks for the great trip, Blackberry. And thanks for finding this for me."

"Oh, that's the doll!" Lemon said, noticing the doll Raspberry was still holding. The two girls then hugged each other.

Later, me and Raspberry went back to each own home. I was also tired so once I arrived I immediately went to sleep. I woke up quite late at the next day, so I had no breakfast. I then did some maintenance works on my devices, had lunch, and decided to walk around. At first I went to Strawberry's house, but inside there was only Apple alone. I saw that she was watching the TV from Ginger, and I also saw that there was a cooking show run by the girls. Because I was not interested in such show I left the place and decided to go home. However, when I was by Huck's fort I heard something.

"Hahaha! This is turning out to be a pretty good show!" a voice I recognized as Huck said.

I then entered the fort and in his TV I saw that there was a chaos on the show, looking at how dirty the girls on TV had become.

"Don't you think they need help, Huck?" I asked. "Maybe we should go there."

"Don't worry. I bet they do that on purpose to make us laugh," Huck answered.

"Well, I hope you are right..." I said, still looking at the TV in doubt, and then I left the place to go home.

"I'm pretty curious now. I'll watch once I get home," I thought on the way home.

-End of chapter 18-

Referenced episode: Piece of Cake. The second episode of Cooking Up Fun DVD.


	23. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Dark Berry Fairies

Two days have passed since our last visit to the Land of Dreams. During the two days I didn't leave my house because I was busy doing maintenance works on all my devices. Nobody visited me so I didn't know what had happened in Strawberryland. I had finished the works so I decided to go out and see if I could meet someone. My first visit was of course Huck's fort, the one closest from my house. I went there and when I arrived I saw that Apple was there as well.

"Apple Dumplin' is here too huh?" I said.

"Yeah, it looks like Strawberry is busy at her house again," Huck said.

"As always, what's happening this time?" I asked.

"There's an injured fairy at her house and everyone, I mean she, Angel Cake, Orange Blossom, Ginger Snap, and Blueberry Muffin are taking care of her," Huck said.

"Apple Dumplin' too little again," Apple said with upset tone.

"You don't come there?" I asked Huck.

"You should see for yourself. Everyone's serving her like a queen already. No need to add more," he answered.

"By the way, you said `fairy`, right? What fairy?" I asked.

"Well, I heard that she's a berry fairy," he answered.

"Berry fairy...?" I asked, remembering about my one random thought.

"She said that without her our berries would be green as hard as rocks. At least that's what Strawberry told me," he answered.

Later I went home thinking about what we had talked about. When I received the letter from the dream fairies I had a random thought about the existence of berry fairies, looking at the size of the berries in Strawberryland. However, I had not expected that it would have been true. While walking home I suddenly noticed that all the berries around were in bad condition. They were brown, small, and wrinkled.

"Oh, no. Is this because the berry fairy isn't doing her job?" I said, looking at the dying berries.

I quickly went home and met Raspberry along with Lemon right in front of it. They told me that the berries around their place were also dying and they asked if I could do something about it.

"Probably this is because the berry fairy isn't doing her job," I said.

"You mean, the one in Strawberry's house now?" Raspberry asked.

"Who else? I might be able to do something but I can't promise it," I answered, taking Nature's Blessing from my shelf.

We went to the outfield of Strawberryland, towards one place which I estimated to be the center of the whole region. I then put the device under one bush and turned it on. Because I felt the area it covered by default was not enough, I pressed its overcharge button to significantly increase the coverage. It then let out a green aura and the dying berries around started to recover. However, their color ended up green instead of their usual colors.

"Did we did it?" Lemon asked.

"I think not," Raspberry said.

"Let's see," I said, checking one of the berries. "Green and as hard as rock."

"At least... they don't look dying anymore," Lemon said.

"Yeah... looks like my device is only an emergency stop gap. We still need the berry fairy," I said, taking Nature's Blessing which started to let out black smokes because of the overcharge.

"But look at the time," Lemon said, pointing at the setting sun.

"Yeah, let's go to her tomorrow," Raspberry said.

Each of us then went to each own house. I spent the rest of the day repairing Nature's Blessing, and after I finished I went to sleep. I woke up a little bit late at the next day. I then had my breakfast and went towards Strawberry's house, meeting Raspberry and Lemon on the way.

"You woke up late too?" I asked.

"Yeah... I cannot sleep last night," Raspberry said.

"Me neither," Lemon said.

"How come?" I asked again.

"How could I sleep with the dying berries in my mind?" Raspberry asked back.

"Me too," Lemon added.

However, as we had conversation, I noticed that the berries around were already at their usual color.

"Look, the berries!" I said, running towards one strawberry and checked on it. "Red, and ripe."

"So the fairy is back on the job. I'm glad," Raspberry said.

"Me too," Lemon said.

"I guess there's no need for us to go to Strawberry's place anymore right?" I said.

"Yeah I guess," Raspberry said.

"By the way, want to have a trip again?" I asked, taking Time Remote Mark II from my pocket and showing it to the two girls.

"Great idea! Let's do it!" Raspberry said with excitement.

"I'll go home and change first," Lemon said.

"I'll also go home to change and take my backpack," I said.

"I'll ask if there's anybody else to come along," Raspberry said. "We will meet at your house."

I then went home, changed into my hiking outfit, and took my backpack. Then I waited as told by Raspberry until a few minutes later I heard a doorbell. I opened the door and it turned out that nobody else wanted to come along because the guests were only Raspberry and Lemon.

"Some are busy, some others are tired, some others already had a plan for today," Raspberry said.

"I see. Well, it can actually be good," I said.

"Why is that?" Lemon asked.

"I have been wondering where the dream fairies have taken Ginger's Dream Boat away. If there's nobody else with us we can try looking for it," I said.

"Sounds interesting. Let's do it," Raspberry said.

"Ginger Snap's Dream Boat!" I said to the remote and it made a dimension door where we jumped into.

When we came out, Raspberry noticed that we were in Dream Boat's engine room. We then went to the deck and see if we could look around the boat and find where it was put. Looking at the bright sun above and the scenery around, I could recognize that the boat was put in Strawberryland, but I didn't know which part of Strawberryland.

"This is Strawberryland right?" Raspberry asked.

"I think so," Lemon said.

"Lollipop trees, gumball mountain and all, how could this not be Strawberryland?" I said.

"Then which part of Strawberryland?" Raspberry asked.

"I don't know. I can't recognize this area," I answered, leaning my back on the fence of the edge. "The letter I once got told me that this boat has been entrusted to another group of fairies,"

"That would be us, the berry fairies," a voice said from behind. I looked on the source and saw a fairy with orange hair and green dress.

"And you're...?" Raspberry said.

"Margalo B. Berryglow. F.W.F.P.F.C." the fairy answered.

"F.W... what?" Lemon asked.

"Fairy World Fairy Princess First Class," Margalo answered. "Anyway, you have to get out of here quick!"

"Why is that?" Raspberry asked.

"Just get out of here before..." she answered before there was an interruption.

"Intruders! Get them!" a voice yelled and a group of three fairies dressed in darker outfits came.

"Oh, too late..." Margalo said with a sigh.

"What's happening? Who are they?" Raspberry asked.

"Intruders have no right to speak!" one of the dark fairies said, waving her wand. Suddenly a cloth appeared around Raspberry's mouth and gagged her. At the same time another dark fairy waved her wand and materialized ropes which then tied Raspberry's arms and legs, resulting her fall to the floor.

"Raspberry!" Lemon yelled, running to Raspberry. However, the last dark fairy waved her wand.

I didn't just stand and watch everything happening. I quickly bumped the tip of my right shoe to the floor three times, resulting both of my shoes having bright lights around them. Then with unbelievable speed I ran to Lemon, grabbed her, and jumped out of the Dream Boat. I landed on the ground well but I could feel a lot of pain on my legs. I ignored the pain anyway and continued to run away.

"They got away!" one dark fairy said.

"No worries, Tina," another dark fairy said.

"Why no worries, Rose?" the last dark fairy asked.

"I bet they will come back for their friend, won't they Stephanie?" Rose answered with smile, looking at Raspberry who was looking back at them with anger but couldn't do anything because she couldn't even move her body at all. "And what are you doing here, Margalo?"

"Rose, I... I..." Margalo answered timidly.

"I don't have time to talk with you. Go away," Rose said.

"But Rose... please..." Margalo begged.

"I said... Go away!" Rose answered with high voice, and Margalo unwillingly left the place.

Meanwhile, I was still running carrying Lemon. The last fairy's magic had already taken effect because I noticed Lemon was already bound and gagged. The pain on my legs kept getting worse and I could see black smokes starting to come out from my shoes, so I quickly entered the first forest I could see and kept running until I felt I had entered deep enough. Then I stopped under one of the trees and put Lemon there.

"Give me... my scissor," I said to my backpack and it gave me a scissor. I then used it to free Lemon from her bondage.

"Blackberry, what actually happened? Who were they?" Lemon asked once I removed her gag.

"I'm as clueless... as you are... Lemon," I answered, running out of breath.

"We have to help Raspberry!" she said.

"We will... but first I have to... ugh..." I replied, trying to sit down leaning to the tree. I could see thick black smokes coming out from both of my shoes, which were black from the burn. The pain on them was so bad I felt like I could faint anytime soon.

"Give me... Phoenix Tear..." I said to the backpack and it gave me the metal sphere. I then used it on my legs and then the pain disappeared, although my shoes were still toast and my stamina was still depleted.

"What did you actually do?" Lemon asked.

"My shoes... were actually devices I have made... since long time ago..." I answered. Then with breath running out I slowly told her that my shoes were actually capable of giving me the ability to run as swift as the wind, at the cost of what she had seen. The name of the shoes was Quickflash.

"It's only... for emergency..." I said, then I fainted because of the fatigue. Later when I woke up, I realized that I was still under the same tree but I also noticed that the fairy in green was with us as well.

"Aren't you... Margalo?" I asked. "How did you find us?"

"It was not that hard to follow your trail, you know," Margalo replied, looking at the trail of burnt footprints I had left. "Don't worry. They are not chasing you."

"How long have I been sleeping?" I asked.

"Only one hour," Lemon answered. "Margalo came a few minutes after you fainted."

"I see. Could you explain about what have happened?" I asked Margalo.

"Well... umm..." Margalo said in doubt.

"They got our friend. We need to know who they are and why they did that," I said.

"Alright..." she said, pausing for a moment. "They are dark berry fairies."

"Dark berry fairies?" I asked.

"They are the same as us berry fairies, at least they were, but they cause nothing but trouble," she explained.

"How come they became like that?" Lemon asked.

Then, Margalo told us that originally the dark berry fairies were the same berry fairies like others, but because they had used a forbidden magic as a desperate measure when they were chased by a crow, the negative energy from the magic affected their mind and they became what we had seen. Dream Boat had originally been put there without any use, but the Berry Fairy Queen later had used it to exile the dark berry fairies until they could find a cure.

"Her Royal Highness' magic was put around it so none of the dark berry fairies can leave the boat," Margalo said. "And no berry fairies can enter too,"

"But we could get out," Lemon said.

"It seems the magic does not affect humans," Margalo replied.

"Can they be cured?" I asked.

"Until now there's no known cure," Margalo said.

"Are those three the only dark berry fairies?" I asked.

"Yes..." she answered.

"May I know who they are?" I asked.

"They are Tina Tulip, Stephanie Starfruit, and... Rose B. Berryglow..." she answered with a deep sigh.

"Wait! The last one... Rose B. Berryglow? And your name is Margalo B. Berryglow..." I noticed the similar names.

"You're right..." she said with tears leaking. "One of them is my sister. It happened to her two days ago when I was away..."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..." Lemon said.

"I was chased by a crow too yesterday, but I got help. I should have used the magic, so I can be with Rose now..." Margalo said, crying.

"No, you should not," I said.

"Huh?" she asked.

"If you become a dark berry fairy, who will help your sister?" I asked back, which seemed to strike her mind directly. She thought for a while and then I said to her, "Let's go back there to help your sister,"

"But your legs..." Lemon said.

"Only burnt shoes. Phoenix Tear has completely healed the wounds," I replied, removing my shoes, throwing them into my backpack, and standing up. "Let's go."

"Yeah, let's go," Margalo said, seeming to have regained her spirit. All of us then began walking back to the Dream Boat.

Meanwhile, in the engine room of Dream Boat, Raspberry was held captive by the three dark berry fairies. She was sitting on the floor leaning to the wall of the room, still bound and gagged. On her side was Rose floating around with anxiety.

"Ugh... guard duty is so boring!" Rose yelled. "Why I never get lucky in flipping coins?!"

"Mmph..." Raspberry mumbled.

"What is it? You want to say something?" Rose asked.

"Mmph..." Raspberry mumbled again.

"Tsk... fine, go ahead and speak," Rose said, waving her wand and then Raspberry's gag disappeared. The latter then took a deep breath.

"At least give some room to breathe. It was killing me you know," Raspberry said, panting.

"Oh, I thought you would yell `let me go!` repeatedly with anger," Rose said, a little bit surprised.

"Hmph, like if you would do that if I did," Raspberry replied.

"Oh... yeah you're right. I won't," Rose said with a giggle.

"See?" Raspberry said and both of them giggled.

"You know, I'm starting to like you. My name is Rose B. Berryglow," Rose said, offering her hand.

"I'm Raspberry Torte. But you see, we can't do a handshake," Raspberry said and both of them giggled again. Then suddenly Raspberry's face expression changed.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"Your name... Rose B. Berryglow? Margalo's surname is the same as yours... that means..." Raspberry said

"Yes, Margalo is my sister," Rose said.

"You have bad relationship with her?" Raspberry asked.

"No, we are inseparable. I mean... we were inseparable" Rose said.

"Then why...?" Raspberry asked before an interruption came.

"What are you doing, Rose?!" Another fairy came in yelling. "Why did you release the hostage's gag?!"

"Guard duty is boring so I decided to talk with her. Do you mind Tina?!" Rose replied.

"Ha! You talk with the hostage? I thought the hostage would just yell `let me go!` repeatedly," Tina said.

"Hmph, I'm not that stupid to do such useless thing," Raspberry said, looking away from Tina.

"Rose! You...!" Tina said, and then there was a brief silence. "May I join? It's been so long since the last time I talk with someone other than you and Stephanie."

"Be my guest," Rose said, and a happy conversation continued for a while until the last dark berry fairy entered the scene.

"Well well well, having fun talking with the hostage?" the fairy asked with her hands on her hip and angry face.

"Yeah, so what? Anything wrong with that Stephanie?" Tina asked back.

"Yes, there is something very wrong with that," Stephanie said, and there was a brief silence. "You did not invite me to join! I like having conversations!" She said with a smile, and then she joined the conversation. The conversation continued in a very happy manner, and Raspberry enjoyed the conversation with the dark berry fairies even though the ropes started to hurt her. During all the talks she also learned about the origin of the dark berry fairies and their exile in the Dream Boat. The conversation kept going on for quite a while.

"Now I only hope for my friends to rescue me," Raspberry said, looking upwards.

"You still have faith in your friends?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes of course. I believe in them," Raspberry answered.

"Even after you saw them running away?" Tina asked.

"They will come back for me. I'm sure of it," Raspberry said.

"I wish I could be as faithful as you..." Rose said.

"Oh, you sure can," Raspberry said.

"No, I can't. If any of my friends does something wrong I will lose faith of them, and then the friendship will be ruined," Rose said.

"Anyone can do something wrong sometimes. Even I did," Raspberry said and there was a brief pause. "But my friends never lost faith on me. I should do the same to them."

"But you know... we of course won't let that to happen," Stephanie said.

"Yeah, if they come back we will stop them. We will even try to capture them and put them here with you," Tina said.

"Then what will you do afterwards?" Raspberry asked.

"Well, exchange you all for our freedom I think," Rose said.

"Don't be silly, Rose. You know that the Queen does not care much about outsiders," Stephanie said.

"Then what to do with the hostages once we have them?" Rose asked. Nobody could answer so there was a silence for a few moments.

"You want friends... I can feel that," Raspberry said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Tina asked.

"She's right..." Rose said. "Deep inside my heart I am desperate for friends..."

"Now that you mention it... you're right... I want friends..." Stephanie said.

"When I was still a berry fairy, nobody wanted to be my friend..." Tina said.

"My attitude was so miserable that nobody was willing to be close to me. Everytime someone see me, they go away," Rose said. "After I became a dark berry fairy, things became even worse."

"Same..." Tina and Stephanie said at the same time.

"Tina... Rose... I think it's time for us to change," Stephanie said.

"Yes. Let's ask for Her Highness' forgiveness and change ourselves towards the better," Tina said.

"I know it will be difficult, but we need to have faith. I know we can do it," Rose said, and the three fairies had a group hug. Suddenly, while they had their tender moments, a bright light covered them. Then black mist came out from their bodies and disappeared to the outside. Their outfit was no longer dark, which meant they were no longer dark berry fairies. They had reverted back into berry fairies.

"Oh! Look, we are back!" Tina said, and the three of them were overjoyed. "Oh, don't worry Raspberry. We didn't forget you," She said, waving her wand. Then Raspberry was released from the ropes.

"So in the end I rescued myself," Raspberry said, getting up into standing position.

"I helped a little. But yeah, you rescued yourself," a voice said, which Raspberry recognized as my voice.

"Blackberry? Where are you?" she asked, looking around.

"I'm right here," I said, taking Blind Spot from my shirt with my left hand so I became visible again. I also had Inner Heart in my right hand. Nobody there realized that I secretly shot all the three fairies with it right after Raspberry had spoken about them having desire for friends.

"You were watching everything?" Rose asked.

"Not really. I came in at the same time Stephanie did. But yeah I watched everything afterwards," I said, throwing the two devices upwards for my backpack to suck them in. "Thanks for your trust on us, Raspberry."

"Hmph!" Raspberry replied, looking away from me. I could notice her blushing.

"Sis!" a voice was heard. I then saw Margalo flying in and quickly hugged Rose.

"I'm sorry, sis. I should have not used that magic," Rose said.

"It's okay. Now that you are here I couldn't care less," Margalo said with tears of joy, still hugging Rose.

"But how...? The barrier..." Tina asked, wondering how Margalo got inside.

"Her Highness told me once that the barrier would disappear when all of you are no longer dark berry fairies," Margalo answered.

"Raspberry!" Lemon shouted, running in. Then she hugged Raspberry tight.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. But I won't be fine if you keep hugging me," Raspberry said, running out of breath.

"Oh, sorry. I was so happy to see you well," Lemon said, releasing her hug.

"I know, but don't overdo it," Raspberry said.

Later, the three of us decided to go home and rest because Raspberry's body still felt strange after being tied up for quite a while, and I needed to get new shoes to replace Quickflash which had become a pile of ash. So all of us had the final conversation on Dream Boat's deck. I already had Time Remote Mark II in my hand by that time.

"We will return to Berry Fairy Fields and start over," Tina said.

"We will try to get friends," Stephanie said.

"It will be hard, but we have faith in ourselves," Rose said.

"You know, all of you already look like friends," I remarked, and they looked at each other. There was a brief silence.

"You're right. I didn't realize that..." Stephanie said.

"Me too..." Tina said.

"Same for me..." Rose said.

"Sounds like a good start, right sis?" Margalo said. "Even better, Strawberry Shortcake taught me how to make new friends. We do what she told me and we all will make new friends in no time."

"You said Strawberry Shortcake?" I asked, noticing the name Margalo mentioned.

"Yes, I was in her place and... I did a few mistakes, but in the end she taught me how to make friends," she replied.

"I see. I suppose it's goodbye for now," I said, pressing Time Remote Mark II's repeat button. "I wish you luck for making new friends,"

"Thank you!" All of the fairies replied, and the three of us jumped into the dimension door that had appeared.

-End of Chapter 19-

Referenced episode: When The Berry Fairy Came to Stay. The first episode of Berry Fairy Tales DVD.


	24. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Deep into The Cold

One week had passed since the day we met the dark berry fairies. After the three of us returned home, there were no more special trip because for unknown reason suddenly my Time Remote Mark II had broken down into an aftermath like the original Time Remote. So, once again my `Danger! Do not touch!` shelf had something in it, and I had no motivation to do any repairs. I had decided to spend the week walking around Strawberryland visiting one or two friends from time to time.

Three days before, I visited Orange Blossom at her house. Coincidentally, Angel Cake, Blueberry Muffin, and Rainbow Sherbet were there as well. The five of us had some talks together, and then someone started to ask something related to that device.

"By the way, Blackberry. I heard you did special trips with Raspberry and Lemon," Angel said.

"Umm, yes. What's with that?" I asked.

"Why you never invite us?" she asked back.

"Well, in the first trip all of you had already planned a garden party with Strawberry. Then for the second one Raspberry said all of you were either too tired, busy, or already had a plan for the day when she invited," I answered.

"Well..." Blueberry said, pausing for a brief moment. "You're right. Now I remember."

"Oh yes, me too," Orange said.

"I still would like to have that trip once," Angel said.

"It's not as good as you might think," I said. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it," she replied.

"How about the others?" I asked.

"I'd like to," Orange said.

"I always want to see the world for real, not just in books," Blueberry said.

"Seeing new things is always a pleasure for me," Rainbow said.

"I need three days to prepare. Is it fine for you all?" I asked, and everybody else agreed.

So, the last three days had been spent repairing Time Remote Mark II. Actually I did the repair in just one day, but I had to make sure nothing would go wrong in the trip. The other two days were spent checking all the devices I would bring in the trip so I could be sure they would work when needed.

At the D-day, I was worrying everything had to be cancelled because the day was so windy that I could feel my house swaying left and right. Sometimes I was also worried that the tree where my house was on would fall, so I braced myself with all soft things I could find in my house. While I was waiting for the wind to calm down, suddenly I heard something from one window of my house. I went to the window and saw Margalo on its other side, being pressed by the wind. I quickly opened the window to let her slide in, and then she entered my house along with a strong wind. I quickly closed the window again and she landed on the table in my living room.

"Are you okay Margalo?" I asked, approaching her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What a windy day today, isn't it?" she said.

"Indeed," I said, sitting down on the sofa right in front of the table.

"I was just doing my daily work this morning, and then suddenly this strong wind blew me away and I ended up right here!" she said.

"Make yourself at home while waiting for the wind to calm down," I said.

"Thanks," she replied.

"By the way, how's your sis?" I asked.

"She's doing great! Now all of us have a lot of friends in the Berry Fairy Fields!" she answered with excitement.

"That's good to hear," I said.

"Although, I worry about this one fairy..." she said.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Sherry Bobbleberry. She's so clumsy that nobody wants to be her friend," she answered.

"Did you try to befriend her?" I asked again.

"I did, but you know..." she said, pausing for a moment. "Her clumsiness makes it hard to like her. That's also one reason she's still F.W.F.P.F.C."

"Fairy World Fairy Princess..." I said, trying to remember the abbreviations.

"Fourth Class," she continued for me. Then she looked outside the window and sighed. "I'm worried that this wind will blow her away like how it did to me."

"I wish I could do something," I said.

"You can of course. You can make devices right? Make a weather controller," she said.

"I actually have already made one a long time ago," I said, remembering about that one device.

"Then use it, will you?" she said.

"Misty Lady!" I said to my backpack, which I had put beside me.

"What?" she asked as my backpack threw a device with the shape of a libra scale with buttons. The scale on each side was shaped like a sun and a cloud.

"This is Misty Lady, a weather controller I have made," I said, putting the device on the table.

"How does it work?" she asked.

"Press this main button, and tilt the scale to the weather you want, but..." I said.

"Right away!" she said, immediately pressing the main button and tilting the sun side all the way down.

"No!" I shouted, but it was too late. The device let out a bright light, seeming to explode anytime soon. I quickly grabbed it, ran to the nearest window, opened the window, and threw the device out. Soon there was a very bright light coming from the outside along with a loud sound, and when we realized it the weather had become really nice.

"Umm, did I screw up?" Margalo said, seeming to feel guilty.

"Kind of actually. Half centimeter is already enough to stop the wind, but you overcharged it," I said.

"Oh..." she said.

"This is why I'm not sure about using it. The scale is too sensitive and one wrong move can result in what just happened," I said.

"But hey, now the weather's really nice," she said, flying towards the window where I had thrown Misty Lady.

"Not really. Now the weather will be really hot for a few days. I'm glad that it is summer now. If it was winter, the snow would melt and cause flood all over Strawberryland," I said, looking outside.

"Snow...? Flood...? Oh no!" Margalo shouted.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Gumball Bluff! Snow always covers its top, and Berry Fairy Fields is just down the hill from there!" she said.

"What?! If the snow melts the Berry Fairy Fields will be flooded!" I said, surprised by her words.

"Exactly! Everyone is doomed and it's all my fault!" she said in panic, and then suddenly someone rang the doorbell. I opened the door and it turned out the guests were the girls I had made a promise to travel with, with the addition of Huck.

"Hi, Blackberry. We're here for the special trip," Angel said.

"I invited everyone else, but they are tired, busy, or already have a plan for today," Blueberry said. "Except Huck, so he is coming along."

"Hey, Margalo! You are here too?" Orange said, noticing Margalo.

"I'm happy to see you come, but the time is not right..." I said, then I explained what had happened.

"That's really bad," Rainbow said. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I have no idea about this," Blueberry said.

"Do you have any device for this?" Huck asked me.

"No, and weather control device is hard to make. Repairing that broken one or making a new one will take three days," I answered.

"That will be too late!" Angel said.

"Now everyone will hate me for sure," Margalo said.

"Hey, maybe we can ask Old Man Winter to help us?" Orange said.

"Old Man Winter?" I asked.

"He's the one who brings winter season," Orange replied.

"Oh, like Spring?" Angel asked. "Where can we find him?"

"He, along with Spring and the others, lives in what they call Land of Seasons," Orange said. "It's very far from here."

"I see. Time Remote Mark II!" I said to my backpack and it gave me the device. "Land of Seasons!"

A dimension door appeared for us to jump in, and everyone jumped in. I was the last to jump in because I took my backpack first before following them. When we came out, we were standing on an open field of grass. We walked around for a few minutes looking for the Old Man Winter whom Orange had mentioned, but it was of no success. However, suddenly we heard a voice.

"Hey, kids. What are you doing here in the Land of Seasons?" the voice asked. We looked around but we saw nobody. "I'm up here!" the voice said again, and we looked upwards. There was a boy quite older than us wearing green shirts with flower images on it, brown trousers, and beach sandals. He was floating with what seemed like crane wings on his back. His hair was short and black like mine.

"Hi, Summer. They are my friends," Margalo said.

"Isn't that Margalo? It's been a while since the last time we met," Summer said.

"You know him already?" I asked.

"Yes, this is Summer. The one who brings summer season. We berry fairies know all the season bringers because we have been having a cooperation since a long time ago," Margalo answered.

"Cooperation?" Blueberry asked.

"We bring seasons to the land, and then the berry fairies maintain the crops suitable for each season. It's just that simple," Summer said. "Anyway, what happened that you come here?"

I then explained all that had happened in my house. Summer listened to my words seriously that sometimes his face expression turned into what seemed like anger, which kinda scared me. But he seemed to notice so he changed it back. When I finished, he sighed and began speaking.

"Nature is not something to play with, you know," he said, which rendered me speechless.

"It was my fault, Summer. Don't blame him," Margalo said.

"He made the device in the first place," Summer replied. "Anyway, Old Man Winter is sleeping right there. But I don't know if you can wake him up."

"Right there where?" Margalo asked.

"The place you have been worrying about. Gumball Bluff," Summer replied. "There's a cave on its top, which leads all the way to the heart of the hill. Old Man Winter sleeps there."

"I see. We will go there right away," I said.

"Good luck in waking him up though. And kid, I say this to you: Don't control weather unless it's really needed. Promise me okay?" Summer said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Umm... okay, I promise," I replied and he smiled.

We then went to Gumball Bluff with the usual dimension door. Indeed the place where we ended up was covered in snow. However, even with all the snow we didn't feel cold at all. Not to mention that I noticed that some parts of the hill were slowly melting.

"Where's the cave Summer mentioned?" Rainbow asked, looking around.

"Let's split up and look around," Huck suggested, and everyone agreed. The search continued for a few minutes until someone yelled.

"I found it, everyone! There is a cave here!" Margalo yelled and everyone came to her. Indeed there was a cave with its entrance big enough for us all to enter.

"Well done, Margalo," Angel said.

"Let's go in," Orange said, and all of us went inside. Margalo, who was the last to enter, noticed something after all of us had entered the cave by quite a number of steps.

"Huh?" Margalo said, looking towards the entrance which was barely visible because of the distance.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at her. I also could see that there was a blizzard outside the cave, but it was a small one which probably would stop soon.

"I think I heard someone yelling `Help! Not more wind!` out there," she replied, still looking towards the entrance.

"I didn't hear anything. Maybe you just imagined that?" Blueberry said.

"Yeah... maybe," Margalo said, and the trip continued.

We walked for the next few minutes. The further we walked the light became darker and darker until the point where we could barely see our own hands.

"Everyone, are you still there?" I asked, stopping my steps.

"I'm right here!" A voice I recognized as Huck replied.

"Blueberry? Orange? Angel? Rainbow? Margalo?" I shouted, and then I heard answers from each of them.

"I'm here," Blueberry answered.

"Right here," Angel said.

"Over here," Orange answered.

"Ahoy!" Rainbow said.

"Anybody has lights? I can't see anything here!" Margalo shouted.

"Wait a moment. Flashlight!" I said, and my backpack threw a flashlight into my grip. "Replicator!"

My backpack then gave me the device I wanted, and I used the device to make copies of my flashlight until the amount was enough for everyone. I didn't make a copy for Margalo because she was too small to carry the flashlight. After I threw Replicator into my backpack, the trip continued.

"Stop, everyone!" Huck suddenly said.

"What is it?" Orange asked as everyone stopped their steps.

"There's a staircase leading down. Watch your steps," he replied, continuing his steps.

The staircase we had found was a very long one. The time we spent walking down the spiraling staircase felt like hours, or maybe it was really hours. Nobody was aware of time, and the trip continued without anyone talking much.

"Stop, everyone!" Huck suddenly said.

"What is it again?" Angel asked as everyone stopped their steps.

"The staircase... ends here," he answered.

"A dead end?" I asked from behind.

"No... from here it's... it's a slide made from ice," he answered.

"A slide? We have to slide?" Angel asked, surprised.

"It looks like so," he said.

"No way. It looks dangerous," Angel said, looking at the slide.

"But if we don't, we won't find Old Man Winter," Blueberry said.

"Alright. I'll go first," Rainbow said, stepping forward.

"Be careful," Huck said.

"I will," she replied and went down the slide. "Wheeee!"

"Who next?" Huck asked.

"Why not you yourself?" Angel said.

"Alright..." he answered, going down the slide. "Woohoo!"

"Blueberry..." Angel said, looking at Blueberry.

"Why not going yourself instead of keeping asking other people?" Blueberry asked back. Angel Cake was speechless.

"Okay, I'm next," Orange said, going down the slide. "Aaaaa!"

All of the sudden, there was a vibration inside the cave. The rest of us hugged each other to brace ourselves. When the vibration stopped, it all seemed to be over. However, soon I heard a sound of water.

"Oh, no... water is coming down here!" I said.

"What?! What should we do?" Angel asked, starting to panic.

"Jump down the slide. That's the only way!" Blueberry said.

"What? No way... I'm scared," Angel replied.

"Jump by yourself, or you would rather wait until the water makes you do it?" Blueberry said.

"Oh, alright..." Angel said, going to jump into the slide. She trembled and doubted at first, but then she jumped down. "Aaaaaa!"

"I hope you'll follow quickly, Blackberry," Blueberry said, going down. "Wooow!"

"Come here, Margalo," I said to Margalo while throwing my backpack into the slide. "Stay in my hands."

"Okay," Margalo replied, coming to me. Then I held her in my grip and went down the slide. I started to slide down just right before the surge of water arrived. I didn't scream like the others while sliding, but I was quite scared not only because I was sliding at high speed, but also because a large surge of water was right behind me. The slide continued for the next one minute until I saw a glimpse of light ahead. After entering the light, I realized that I ended up in a spacious room made from ice which somehow emitted light, which made the room bright. Everyone else were there waiting for me, and Huck already got my backpack.

"Run!" I said, getting up and starting to run as fast as I could. Soon the surge of water came out from the hole I had come from, and everyone ran away from it. We ran as fast as we could, but the water was faster. The situation seemed hopeless, but suddenly we noticed an old man standing at a distance in front of us.

"Get down and slide, kids!" the old man shouted. We did as he said, and he waved his hand towards the surge of water. A big blue crescent appeared and went past right above us. Then it hit the water surge, creating a bright light. When we regained our sight, we saw that the surge of water had become ice.

"Thank you, sir. You saved us," Blueberry said as everyone stood up.

"Old Man Winter! It's nice to see you again!" Orange said.

"He is Old Man Winter?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, I am Old Man Winter, dear," the old man said. Then he sighed and continued, "Can't get much rest this year. That quake woke me up from my sleep."

"I'm sorry..." Margalo said.

"It's fine, my dear. And I suppose the snow above is melting, right?" he said.

"Yes, that's right," Margalo said.

"I have stopped it from melting more, but I can't do much about the parts that had already melted before I woke up," he said.

"What?! Berry Fairy Fields will still be flooded?!" Margalo said, surprised.

"Don't worry, dear. Look at this," Old Man Winter said, waving his hand. A large plate of ice appeared, and then Old Man Winter took an ice crystal from his pocket. The crystal then emitted a light onto the plate, and then images of the berry fairies working together to make a dam appeared like if we were watching a large TV.

"See, they can take care of themselves, dear," Old Man Winter said.

"Hey, isn't that Strawberry Shortcake?" Rainbow said, pointing at the plate.

"And that's Ginger Snap!" Orange said, also pointing at the plate.

"Have the berry fairies grown large or..." I asked, noticing that the two girls were the same size as the berry fairies. But then I saw Custard and Pupcake being much larger than them. "Our two friends shrunk?"

"Yes, you have to be smaller to fit in our world," Margalo said, then I remembered that I also had shrunk in Dream Fairy Fields. We kept watching until we saw that the dam was a success in repelling the water surge that came later.

"I'm relieved," Margalo said.

"I believe we all are," I said, then Old Man Winter put the crystal back into his pocket and waved his hand to make the plate of ice disappeared.

"Now that it is over, I'm going back to sleep. I expect to meet you again at winter," he said, waving his hand once more. A bed made of ice appeared and then he lied down there.

"Wait! How can we get out of here?" Angel asked, but it was too late because soon a bright light appeared, and when we regained our vision Old Man Winter had been already encased in ice.

"That's Old Man Winter. Always leaves us to find the way ourselves," Margalo said.

"Not much of a problem, though. Give me my backpack, Huck," I said and he returned my backpack. "Time Remote Mark II."

The backpack then gave me the device I wanted. Then I asked everyone, "Where shall we go now?"

"I want to see Strawberry and Ginger," Angel said.

"Me too," Orange said.

"I'd like to," Blueberry said.

"I think we all do," Huck said.

"Okay. Berry Fairy Fields!" I said, and a dimension door appeared for us to jump in. When we came out, the city of the berry fairies was right in front of us.

"Let's go in," Huck said in high-pitched voice. "Hey, what happened to my voice?"

"What... huh? My voice too," Orange said, then she looked at Margalo who was already the same size as us.

"It's the side effect of being smaller than usual," Margalo said. "It will be gone once you return to your normal size."

"Where are Strawberry and the others?" Blueberry asked.

"Probably at Her Highness' castle," Margalo answered.

"Can we go there?" Rainbow asked.

"Today is Her Highness' birthday, and everyone's invited to come. So yes, we can go there," Margalo replied.

We then walked through the city and later arrived at the Berry Fairy Queen's castle. At the front yard we saw a group of fairies cheering over one fairy in purple. We also saw Strawberry and Ginger standing next to the fairy.

"Sherry Bobbleberry? You have the tiara? You did it!" Margalo shouted in joy, noticing the tiara worn by the fairy in purple, who seemed to be Sherry Bobbleberry according to the name Margalo had mentioned.

"Margalo! I did it! Now I'm first class!" Sherry said in excitement, coming to Margalo and then hugged her.

"Margalo! I'm happy to see you again!" Strawberry said, approaching Margalo.

"My oh my oh my! Looks like all our friends are here as well! Bet nobody ever expected it. Nope, not ever!" Ginger said, noticing us.

"Now why so many outsiders in Her Royal Highness' royal palace?" a fairy in cyan said, looking at us.

"Everyone's invited, Periwinkle. So that's not a problem," a fairy who seemed to be the Berry Fairy Queen said.

"All right if Your Highness say so. But once the party is over, the outsiders have to leave, right?" Periwinkle asked, approaching the Berry Fairy Queen.

"Yes, but they are welcome to return here anytime in the future," the Berry Fairy Queen said.

"What?! But... okay, as you wish, Your Highness," Periwinkle said.

And so, the party at the Berry Fairy Queen's castle continued. Everyone in the party had a wonderful time with all the music, food, and everything else there. The party was over when the sky was starting to get dark.

"I think it's time for us to leave," I said to Margalo.

"I hope you will come again someday," Margalo said.

"We will," Huck said. "This is a very nice place to visit."

"Absoloo-tely" Blueberry said as I made the dimension door to Strawberryland.

"Bye for now," I said, and I jumped into the dimension door. Everybody else followed soon after.

We ended up right in front of Strawberry's house, and I was sure that we were in the correct Strawberryland because I had saved the world in the remote just like Greenhill. With proper farewell, Strawberry entered her house.

"Strawberry! Where you go?" we heard a voice we recognized as Apple from the house after Strawberry entered.

"You know, sometimes I feel that Strawberry does not care much about her little sister..." I said as we all started to walk away.

"Well, I don't know about that," Angel said.

"I mean, she just left her sister in the house alone, and it has happened not only once or twice," I said.

"We can talk all day about that, but let's not," Blueberry said. "As long as we don't see Apple complaining, it'll be just fine."

"Well, okay if you say so," I said, and the walk continued until we arrived at Cookie Corners and Ginger Snap left us.

"Sorry that we didn't get to do any special trip after all," I said as we all walked.

"Huh? But we did a special trip," Orange said.

"Yeah, it was really a great one," Rainbow said.

"Huh? So you count our trip to Old Man Winter as a special trip?" I asked.

"Of course! That was really great, especially that slide," Huck said.

"Absoloo-tely the best trip I've ever had," Blueberry said.

"But it was really scary..." Angel said.

"I told you that it wouldn't be as good as you think," I said.

"Yeah, but it was still great for me, although it was scary..." Angel said. "Did something like that happen in your trips before?"

"Kinda, and Raspberry was always the unlucky one. In the first trip she was almost eaten by a crocodile," I replied, which surprised everyone else. "And then in the second trip... well, she got captured and held hostage until rescued."

"Your special trip sure is... special," Huck said, and we arrived in one point where we separated and went to each own home.

-End of Chapter 20-

Referenced episode: Legend of Sherry Bobbleberry. The second episode of Berry Fairy Tales DVD.


	25. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Around The World

It was in the middle of Summer, one week after the trip to Old Man Winter, when Strawberry found an old building on the top of a small hill. The building's shape was like a cake similar to Angel Cake's house, although the building looked abandoned. Nobody knew who had built it and for what, but Strawberry spoke her idea out as the main group of five plus me stood right in front of the building.

"This building sure is old and could fall apart anytime. What are you going to do with this, huh Strawberry Shortcake?" Ginger asked.

"Let's fix this building!" Strawberry said in excitement.

"Huh? For what?" Huck asked.

"Yeah, what we're gonna do after that?" Angel asked.

"Who will use it?" Orange asked.

"We all will use it. We and all other friends!" Strawberry answered, still in excitement.

"Huh? What do you mean, Strawberry?" I asked.

"We all will use this as a clubhouse!" she answered.

"Clubhouse? What club?" Orange asked.

"What else? Friendship Club!" Strawberry answered.

"Friendship Club? What we're gonna do with a Friendship Club? I mean, we're all friends already," Angel asked.

"You see, this building is right on a place where every part of Strawberryland can come. Has any of you ever wanted to visit a friend or two, but can't decide who? Then you can just come to the clubhouse and see who is there, and also inviting anyone on the way. And also, we can use the clubhouse to gather everyone around Strawberryland to have a party. Isn't it berry great?" Strawberry said in high excitement.

"Well, now that you mention it..." Angel said, thinking for a moment. "That's a great idea!"

"Yeah, let's do this!" Orange said.

"But repairing this will be hard and take a long time," Huck said, looking at the building in doubt.

"If we work together, we can do it!" Strawberry said. "We all remember Blueberry's house, right?"

"You're right, Strawberry Shortcake! I'll go home and take my tools. Back in a flash!" Ginger said, going away.

And so, the six of us worked hard to repair the abandoned building. I didn't know how we did it, but the work seemed to progress much faster than I had thought. In the next one hour the building had been cleaned up from dust and trash, and the next thing to do was to fix broken parts. Again, that was done in one hour. After the broken parts were fixed, it was time to decorate the exterior.

"So, how we are going to decorate this building, huh anyone?" Ginger asked.

"How about decorating this with strawberries?" I suggested. "I mean, this is Strawberryland after all."

"Great idea. Let's do it," Orange said.

"Yeah, I agree with that," Angel said.

"Me too," Huck said.

So, the exterior of the building was decorated to be strawberry-themed with red paint job and all strawberries on it. It had been done in just two hours. After that it was time to fill the interior with furnitures and all. Most of them were made by Ginger and me in her factory, while a few were taken from our houses. With the help of Falcon and Telekinator for delivery, all were done in the next three hours.

"There! All done!" Ginger said in excitement.

"Nice work, Ginger," Orange said.

"Berry nice work, everyone!" Strawberry said, looking at the brand new building.

"What a nice clubhouse this building will become," Huck said.

"Hey, where's Blackberry?" Angel asked, looking around.

"Hey, everyone!" I said, approaching them from behind.

"Where were you?" Huck asked.

"I was making this," I replied, showing them a pink badge with a simple image of a strawberry on it. "A badge for our club."

"Wow, nice. So what does this badge do, huh Blackberry?" Ginger asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.

"I know things you make are always full of surprises, like that flying car, the remote to lift things, even a badge that makes you disappear, am I right? So this badge also has a surprise for us, am I right again?" Ginger said.

"Well, uh... this badge... is the sign that each of us is a member of the Friendship Club," I replied.

"That's all?" Orange asked.

"Really? That's it? No superpower or flight or anything? Absolutely nothing at all?" Ginger asked.

"I really hoped for something better," Angel said.

Huck didn't say anything while still looking at the badge. Everything that had been said struck me like lightning bolts and rendered me completely speechless. I hadn't been aware that they had expected so much from me. All that had been in my mind while making the badge was to make something to mark that the person wearing it was a part of the Friendship Club. There was a silence for the next few seconds.

"That's a berry great badge, Blackberry!" Strawberry said, which quite surprised me. "May I try it on?"

"Uh... yeah, sure," I said, giving the badge to Strawberry, who immediately put it on her shirt.

"I like it berry much! Thank you, Blackberry!" she said. "It is great to have something to show that we are part of the club, right everyone?"

"Umm... yeah, sure," Angel said.

"Of course it is," Huck said.

"I think the same too," Orange said.

"Alright then. If it is settled, then you should make one for everyone all over Strawberryland, will you, huh Blackberry?" Ginger said.

"Well... sure, no problem," I said, shooting copy-mode Replicator, which I had been hiding behind my back, to Strawberry's chest. The green laser hit the badge she had put on, then I set Replicator into paste-mode and shot everyone else's chests including my own. In the end each of us had a badge on the chest.

"Thanks, Blackberry," Orange said.

"Woow, you've made a copy-gun too? You're simply amazing, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Thanks, Blackberry. Umm... I'm sorry for what I said," Angel said.

I was silent for a few seconds, then I said, "Umm, no, it's fine. You didn't do anything wrong. Really."

And so, that was the beginning of the Friendship Club. Every once in a while, each resident of Strawberryland visits the clubhouse and most of the time at least one other friend would be there. In the clubhouse everyone could spend time talking, baking cookies, watching TV which I had provided with better antenna, taking a nap in the bedroom, or looking at the scenery around on the tower at the top with Huck's telescope which he had put there. All in all, Strawberry's Friendship Club was a great success.

One day, when I was walking to the clubhouse, I saw the main four girls throwing what seemed like the butterfly letters I had once seen a long time before. I looked at the letters flying away, then I approached the girls.

"Hi, everyone," I greeted.

"Hi, Blackberry!" Strawberry replied.

"What letters are those, if I may ask?" I asked.

"Those are invitation letters," she replied.

"Invitation? For who and what?" I asked.

Then, I learned about Strawberry's idea to make more friends from outside Strawberryland and then to invite them in a big friendship festival. Hearing about her idea suddenly gave me an inspiration. I then immediately said my thanks and left the place towards my home.

I then spent the rest of the day working behind my house to put the inspiration into realization. Even when bed time came, the work was still half done. Because I didn't want to repeat what had happened while we had been chasing Rainbow Sherbet, I decided to sleep and continue at the next day. Right after having breakfast at the next day, I immediately went to the back of my house and continued the work. I was concentrating so much on it that I didn't realize someone visited me until she greeted me.

"Hey, Blackberry. Working hard?" A voice I recognized as Peppermint said.

"Oh, hi Peppermint. It's a surprise that you come here," I said, stopping my work, which actually had just been finished.

"Have I been away from here for so long that you said that?" Peppermint said.

"Not really, but... yeah maybe," I replied.

"Hmph. Anyway, what are you working on now?" Peppermint asked, looking at the thing behind me.

"This is Falcon. I mean... this was Falcon," I replied.

"Your flying car? What have you done to it?" she asked, looking that the shape of the thing was so different than the Falcon she remembered.

"I modified it so it can fly much longer," I answered, then I told her about Strawberry's idea and how it gave me inspiration to travel around the planet and meet new friends along the way.

"So now your... Falcon can travel in longer distance?" Peppermint asked.

"Yes, although some things have to go. You see, now the seats are only enough for two," I said. "And this is not Falcon anymore. I'll give it a new name..."

"A new name, huh?" she said as I began to think.

"Blackbird," I said a few seconds later, snapping my finger.

"Yeah of course. This thing is black, and you made it to look like something between a car and a plane," Peppermint remarked and sighed.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, noticing Peppermint's sigh and sore face.

"You know, I liked your old flying car. It helped us to chase Rainbow... and it saved her as well," she said, pausing for a moment and sighing.

"Umm... Peppermint..." I said, but she continued before I could say anything.

"I had good memories of it, and now that it is gone..." she said and paused again.

"Peppermint...?" I said, but she continued again.

"It's just... doesn't feel right..." she said, looking down.

"Hello, Peppermint? Could you hear me once?" I asked. "Falcon is still here."

"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, a little bit surprised.

"Here," I said, taking Falcon's remote which was lying on the ground and pressed one button. The dark blue flying car everyone in Strawberryland had been knowing about appeared next to Blackbird out of its invisibility.

"Falcon...? But you said..." Peppermint said.

"Sorry, I should have said it earlier. You know this, right?" I said, pointing at one other thing lying on the ground.

"Your copy-gun...?" she said, looking at Replicator. Then a few seconds later her face expression changed from confusion to surprised. "Oh!"

"You realized it, I suppose?" I asked.

"You copied the car," she said.

"Yes, that Falcon is the one you remember. Blackbird is made from the copy," I said.

"Yeah, you should have said that earlier, silly! Now I have wasted my tears for nothing!" she said, wiping tears from her eyes with upset face.

"Yeah, I apologize. Care for a trip around the world with Blackbird for my apology?" I asked.

"Huh?" she asked, a little bit surprised.

"Blackbird is done. All that left is to make use of it," I answered. "So?"

"Well... uh... only the two of us?" she asked.

"Of course. There are only two seats. One at the front and one at the back," I replied.

"Well... umm... okay..." she said timidly. "But are you sure this is safe?"

"You can count on me," I answered, getting onboard.

"Alright," she said, getting onboard as well.

I then turned Blackbird's engine on. A small monitor in front of me displayed the map of the planet with a red arrow to mark the current position.

"You can choose where to go. You can see the map as well, right?" I said.

"Yeah I can see that of course," she replied, looking at another monitor in front of her. "But you decide first."

"No, you decide first," I replied.

"You want to argue over this all day? I insist you first," she said.

"Well... alright," I said. "Let's go to a close place first... here!" I continued, touching a part of the map with my finger. Then a text appeared on both monitor, displaying the name of the place I had just pointed. "Tangerine Bosque... I have been there once, but whatever. Hit it, Blackbird!"

After I had said that, Blackbird floated high and then turned around until it faced the direction towards Tangerine Bosque. There was a pause for a moment, then Blackbird accelerated. The acceleration was so high that both of us were pressed to the seats quite hard, but then the acceleration decreased as Blackbird reached its maximum speed.

"At this speed we will arrive in... around ten minutes," I said.

"You said you have been there once. When, and how?" Peppermint asked.

"It was last autumn. I intended to go to Lower Lollipop with Falcon, but I went too far. I didn't land, though," I replied.

"You said Falcon? But..." Peppermint asked.

"Tangerine Bosque is still close enough for Falcon, but it took one and a half hour to go there, and another one and a half hour to go back," I replied. "Not to mention that Falcon's energy almost ran out after that trip,"

"Oh, I see," she said, and then there was no conversation until Blackbird decelerated, implying that Tangerine Bosque was close. Some seconds later Blackbird came to a complete stop high above ground and we looked around. There was nothing but trees below, but at a distance we could see a beach.

"Switch to manual," I said, and a steering wheel came out from below the map.

"Huh? You haven't been driving it?" Peppermint asked.

"Blackbird is auto-pilot when travelling at high speed, and manual when flying around slowly like now," I replied. "We can't land in a forest. Let's land on that beach."

I then smoothly landed Blackbird at the beach. After both of us got off, I noticed something on the ground.

"Isn't this..." I said, picking the thing up. "One of Strawberry's butterfly letters?"

"You mean the invitation letters they sent yesterday?" Peppermint asked.

"Indeed, looks like this one didn't make it to anyone's hands," I said, looking that it didn't move anymore. "Too bad."

"Yeah, too bad. But whatever, this place doesn't look like something with someone inside anyway," Peppermint said.

"Let's at least look around," I said, putting the poor letter into my pocket.

We then walked into the forest. It was not so long until we found a place with some houses either on ground or on a tree.

"So there's someone here after all," I said.

"Someone lives in the middle of a... forest? Yeah right," Peppermint said.

"Let's try giving this letter," I said, walking towards the houses. "Hello! Anybody here?!"

"I'm here!" there was an answer from above. I looked upwards and saw a girl at the balcony of one tree house. The girl had long orange hair with green bandana around her forehead. She then went down and approached the two of us.

"Hiya, I'm Tangerina Torta," the girl said.

"I'm Blackberry Bun," I said. "This is Peppermint Fizz."

"Uh-huh. Yeah, hi," Peppermint said.

"Welcome to Tangerine Bosque," Tangerina said as a monkey came and jumped into her. "And this is my pet monkey Banana Bongo,"

"It's nice to know you both. By the way, have you received a letter like this?" I said as I gave the butterfly letter to Tangerina.

"Well, no. Let me see," she said and then she took a few minutes to read the letter. "Strawberryland? Is it far from here?"

"Well... kinda," I answered.

"It does not matter! I always like to have new friends!" she said in excitement. "I'll definitely come! But not now, though."

"Why not?" I asked.

"I have this special flower and I need to take special care of it everyday. I'll look for someone else to take care of it for me first and then I can go. It can be tomorrow or next week, or even the week after that. I'm not sure," she replied.

"Special flower?" Peppermint asked.

"Yes, it blooms only once every ten years! The last time it bloomed was five years ago. That's what I heard from the one who lived here before," she replied.

"I see," I said.

"I'll send a reply letter once I can come there," she said.

"Alright. Then it is time for us to go," I said.

"Oh, why so soon?" she asked.

"We are going to meet more new friends. I'm sure we will meet again in Strawberryland," I replied.

"Okay, then. I'll see you again soon," she said, and we went back to where Blackbird was parked. When we arrived both of us got onboard and I turned its engine on. It went smoothly at first but then it floated high and accelerated without me giving order, not to mention that there were disturbances on the monitor and the flight went with a lot of vibrations.

"What's wrong with this thing?" Peppermint asked.

"I don't know. I..." I said when I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, no..."

"What is it?" Peppermint asked.

"I didn't put protection seals on the engine. Sand from the beach is in it now..." I said with pale face.

"What?! Can't you do something?! Anything?! We are heading right into the South Pole!" Peppermint said, looking at the disturbed map.

"I can't! All we can do now is just wait until it stops by itself!" I said as Blackbird carried us away without any of us being able to stop it.

-End of Chapter 21-

Referenced episode: A Festival of Friends. The second episode of World of Friends DVD. The episode is also known as "The Great Friendship Festival"


	26. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: In 80 Minutes

"You really can't do anything?!" Peppermint shouted as Blackbird flew at maximum speed towards South Pole.

"I can't! It has set the next stop as South Pole and I can't cancel it!" I replied.

"Ohh, I should have stayed home!" she said.

I didn't reply at all, and the flight continued for the next few minutes until Blackbird finally deccelerated. After the decceleration, Blackbird went down and landed roughly on the icy surface. After that the engine stopped working and I couldn't turn it back on. Because we were in the South Pole, of course the weather was freezing and the fact that we weren't wearing warm clothes didn't make things any better. Not to mention the blizzard outside.

"Can we just get out of here? It's freezing here!" Peppermint said.

"Nothing is working! I'm trying but..." I said, then I noticed something ahead. "Look, there's a house."

"A house? In this kind of place?" she said. "And it's made from... ice blocks? Yeah right."

"Let's try going there. It's much better than staying here anyway," I said.

The two of us left Blackbird and walked to the house I had just seen, while bracing ourselves from the cold, freezing blizzard. When we were getting closer, someone opened the door. It was a girl dressed in a seemingly very warm clothes.

"Come inside quickly!" The girl shouted, and both of us ran into the house. After we were in, the girl closed the door.

"Thanks for the shelter," I said, trembling from the cold.

"It's no problem. Now please sit by the heater and use the blankets there," the girl replied. "I'll make hot chocolate for you both."

Both of us then sat down by the heater and covered ourselves in blankets. Soon after, the girl came to us bringing two glasses of hot chocolate. After drinking some sips of it, we felt much better than a few minutes before.

"Feel better now?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, thanks for the help," I replied.

"Yeah... thank you..." Peppermint said.

"Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Blackberry Bun," I said.

"Peppermint Fizz..." Peppermint said.

"I'm Frosty Puff. Welcome to Niceland," the girl said as a penguin came to her and hugged her leg. "And this is Freezer Pop."

"It's nice to know you both," I said.

"Where are you from? You don't look like anyone around here," Frosty asked.

"A place named Strawberryland," I replied.

"Strawberryland? The place mentioned in this letter?" Frosty asked, taking something from her pocket and showed it to us. It was indeed another of Strawberry's butterfly letters.

"That's right," I said.

"You wrote the letter?" she asked.

"No, it was our friend," I replied.

"I'd like to come there. But you see, I can't go out in this blizzard. This will last for one more week I think," she said.

"What?! So now both of us are stuck here, inside these blocks of ice, for one week?!" Peppermint said. "Ohh, I really should have just stayed home!"

"Well, maybe not," I said, searching inside my pocket.

"Great! You still have that dimension door thing, right?" she asked in excitement.

"Unfortunately no. I filled my pocket with my tools when making Blackbird. I left all my devices home," I replied. "I'll repair Blackbird and then we can go."

"No, no, no. The blizzard will freeze you. Forget all I have said," Peppermint said, surprised.

"She's right, Blackberry. I don't know what you were talking about, but please don't go out from here until the blizzard let up," Frosty said.

"Hmm... yeah, I guess you're right," I said, looking at the blizzard outside.

So, both of us decided to stay in Frosty Puff's house until the blizzard let up around one week later. During our stay, Peppermint's feeling towards Frosty Puff was at first the same as the one she had had towards Rainbow Sherbet, but she gradually started to like Frosty Puff and at the end they became close friends. Peppermint also drew a picture of Frosty and another of Tangerina to put in the clubhouse for everyone else in Strawberryland to see. After staying for five nights, the blizzard finally let up and I decided to repair Blackbird immediately.

"Wear these. They will keep you warm," Frosty said, giving me her extra mantle, gloves, and boots.

"Thanks," I said and I wore those.

I then went out and found Blackbird covered in snow. I immediately cleaned all the snows from it, which took half an hour, and then started to clean all the sand from the engine. After I was done cleaning the engine, I did a check on the engine to see if there was any more problems. Once I were done, I moved Blackbird right in front of the door of Frosty Puff's house.

"How's the plane?" Peppermint asked as I came in.

"It's fine. We can go anytime," I replied, which excited her. "Although..."

"Although what?" she asked as her excitement stopped.

"The sand has broken the recharger, and I can't fix it here," I replied.

"Recharger?" Peppermint asked.

"To make it simple, it no longer can refill its energy. We can only use the remaining energy and that's it," I said.

"What?! How much do we have?" Peppermint said, seeming worried.

"Don't worry so much. Its energy is still enough for 80 minutes of flight. Still more than enough to go around the world if you want," I replied and Peppermint calmed down.

"Okay, that's good to hear," she said.

"So, you are leaving now?" Frosty asked.

"Yes, we have stayed here long enough," I replied. "I'm sure we will meet again in Strawberryland."

"I will come for sure," she said. Suddenly the blizzard came again, although not as hard as the previous.

"Again...?" Peppermint said.

"No worries. Blackbird can endure this easily," I said.

"Once the blizzard stops I will send a reply letter," Frosty said.

"I'm sure everyone will be waiting for that to come. Bye for now," I said.

We then left Frosty Puff's house and got onboard Blackbird. I turned the engine on and the monitor in front of each of us displayed the world map, current position, as well as a timer of 80 minutes which immediately started to count down.

"So, are we going home now?" I asked.

"Well, I sorta like this trip and don't want it to end so soon..." Peppermint replied, pausing for a moment. "But if you say so, go right ahead."

"Like I said before, the remaining energy is still enough to go around the world before going home. How about going to the other side of the planet first?" I asked.

"That would be great," she replied.

"Okay, then let's go... here!" I said, touching one part of the map, which immediately displayed the name of the place. "Great Wall of Chocolate... Hit it, Blackbird!"

Blackbird then floated high and accelerated towards the place. As usual the high acceleration pressed both of us to our seats, but it later ended as Blackbird reached its maximum speed.

"35 minutes and we're there," I said.

"Are you sure we will have enough to go home?" Peppermint asked.

"Yes I'm sure of it," I replied. "Just relax and enjoy."

The flight continued without any trouble. Later Blackbird deccelerated and stopped right in front of a very long wall made from chocolate, which both of us assumed as the Great Wall of Chocolate. Because we were on the other side of the planet, it was starting to get dark while in Strawberryland we knew it was still morning over there. The sunset view we saw was so breathtaking that I regretted for not bringing a camera.

"Nice view isn't it?" I said.

"Yeah, sorta," Peppermint replied.

"Let's try landing and see if we can meet another new friend here," I said, switching Blackbird into manual control.

"As long as we still have enough to go home," she said.

"Don't worry about that. And look, there's a house there," I said, pointing at a house below. We then landed on an open field near the house and got off. Then we walked towards the house with a hope of meeting a new friend. However, when we came closer, a voice was heard from behind.

"Hey, who are you and what are you doing here?" the voice said. We looked on the source and saw a girl in red clothes looking at us with angry face.

"Umm... we just came to visit," I replied, then we heard another voice.

"Don't be so harsh, Mint Tea. They are my guests," the voice said. We looked back and saw another girl right in front of the door of the house we had been walking to. "Please come in!"

"Hmph!" Mint said as both me and Peppermint went into the house.

"Please have a seat. I'll talk with her," the girl said and she went out. Then both of us heard a conversation right behind the door.

"There's something wrong with those two."

"Something wrong? But what..."

"They're different! That's what."

"Mint!"

"The way they look, the way they came, just about everything! I don't want to be their friend and you shouldn't either!"

"Mint! Don't say that right here! They will hear!"

"So what? The sooner they leave the better. That's all I want to say!"

"Mint..."

"Oh, and consider my words again about you going to that place!"

As we heard the conversation, I noticed Peppermint starting to leak tears. I knew that the whole conversation hurt her feeling, so I approached her and tried to cheer her up although I knew it wouldn't work.

"I know it hurts, but please be strong," I said.

"No... that's not it..." she replied, wiping her tears.

"Huh?" I asked.

"It's because..." she replied, but stopped because the girl who had the house entered.

"Please forgive Mint Tea," she said. "She has difficult times to accept new people."

"It's fine. By the way, I'm Blackberry Bun," I replied.

"Peppermint Fizz," Peppermint said.

"I'm Tea Blossom. Welcome to Plum Blossom Province," the girl said as a panda walked to her. "And this is Marza Panda. She's the great great granddaughter of the panda queen."

"It's nice to know you," I said, then I noticed something on the table in the middle of the room. "Hey, that letter..."

"It's a letter from Strawberryland. You know about that place?" Tea Blossom asked.

"Know about it? We live in Strawberryland," I answered. "So, what do you think about that?"

"I will surely come. It's always nice to meet new friends," she replied.

"It's nice to hear that," I said.

Then, we spent the remaining time we had until Tea Blossom needed to go to sleep. During the few hours Peppermint drew a picture of Tea Blossom, but she didn't speak much and her face expression was not so happy. Tea Blossom wondered about that and asked but Peppermint replied with an answer that she had been fine.

"It's almost your bedtime, isn't it? Then I guess we will leave now," I said, looking at the clock in the house.

"We will meet again, right?" Tea Blossom asked.

"We sure will. Everyone will be waiting for you to come to Strawberryland," I replied.

"I will send a letter once I can come," she replied, and I left the house with Peppermint.

Both of us got on Blackbird and I turned the engine on. Like before, the monitor displayed the world map, current position, and the timer which were at 39 minutes 25 seconds and counting down. I then touched one part of the map and it displayed the name of Strawberryland.

"Hit it, Blackbird!" I said, and Blackbird flew towards our home, Strawberryland.

"By the way, what did you want to say back then?" I asked.

"Huh? About what?" Peppermint asked back.

"When we heard Mint Tea..." I said.

"Oh... that..." she said, pausing for a moment. "It did hurt, but what hurt me more was that..." she continued and paused again.

"What was it?" I asked.

"I was... I was just like that when Rainbow came. To remember that I have ever been that mean... it really hurts..." she said.

"Oh..." I said, then I was speechless for a moment. "But it's a past, and now you are close friends with her. That's all that matters."

"Heh, yeah. Sorry for being a crybaby just now," she said.

"Nah, there's nothing wrong with it," I replied, and the flight continued without any more talks.

Later, we arrived at Strawberryland when the remaining time was 8 minutes 27 seconds. I immediately landed Blackbird right on the ground next to my house where it was placed before.

"Home again at last," I said, getting off.

"That was quite a good trip," Peppermint said, getting off as well.

"So, you're going to put your drawings in the clubhouse?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course," she answered.

"I think I'll go with you if you don't mind," I said.

"Hmph, why should I?" she said. "It's your call."

So, the two of us walked to the clubhouse to put Peppermint's drawings on its wall. When we arrived at the clubhouse, there were three friends inside, who were Raspberry, Apricot, and Rainbow.

"Oh, hi Blackberry and Peppermint," Apricot greeted as the two of us came in.

"Hi, Apricot. How are you today?" I replied.

"I'm just fine," she replied.

"Where have you been? I came to your house two days ago and there was nobody there," Raspberry asked.

"Around the world in 80 minutes," I answered, which made them confused.

"Uh, what? You mean 80 days? The book?" she asked.

I giggled a little and then I told them about my trip around the world with Peppermint which actually had not been 80 minutes. I had said that because the actual trip around the planet had happened in that 80 minutes. As I told them the story, Peppermint put the drawings she had made on the clubhouse's wall.

"And those three are the new friends," I said, pointing at the three drawings.

"You know..." Raspberry said, looking at the drawings. "They look kinda... different."

"Yeah, indeed," Apricot said.

"But that's what makes friendship interesting," I said.

"Yes, you're right, matey," Rainbow said.

"Don't tell anyone else about them until they come here," I said.

"Why not?" Apricot asked.

"Let it become a surprise for Strawberry and the others," I replied.

"That's an interesting idea," Raspberry said. "Okay, I won't say anything."

"That will be cool," Apricot said.

"Leave it to me, mateys," Rainbow said.

And so, all of us agreed not to tell anyone else about the new friends. I could imagine the day when all of them come to the friendship festival and all the fun that would happen. I couldn't wait for the day when the new friends come.

-End of Chapter 22-

Referenced episode: The Friendship Club. The first episode of World of Friends DVD. The episode is also known as "A Trip to Pearis, France"


	27. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Pearis

Two days have passed after my trip around the world with Peppermint. During the two days I had repaired Blackbird's recharger and put protection seals on the engine so it wouldn't have any more sand coming into it. I also made a new device named Speak All, the shape of which was a headset with a mike. If I wore it whenever someone spoke to me with a different language I didn't know, it would translate the language and I would hear everything in the language I knew. It also worked the other way so I would have no problem at all talking with anyone. I had made the device because I had known someday I would travel to a place where people speak in different languages.

After having lunch, I decided to go to the rooftop of my house and see the scenery around. I climbed the ladder which led to the rooftop and opened the trapdoor at its end. I then stood on the roof and saw that the scenery was quite enjoyable on that day, looking at the nice weather and the summer breeze I felt. I spent some minutes gazing at the scenery until I noticed something.

"A hot air balloon?" I thought, looking at the strawberry-shaped hot air balloon passing by. I then quickly came down into my house and returned to the roof with my spyglasses. I used it to take a closer look at the balloon and saw that the passengers were Strawberry and her two pets. I wondered where she was going to, but then I remembered something and decided to go to her house immediately.

I walked to Strawberry's house quite fast because I was curious about her sister. If Strawberry was away, then who would take care of Apple? With that in mind I kept walking towards her house. The trip went without anything happened on the way, and I arrived ten minutes later. I knocked on the door and then someone opened it. To my surprise, it was Huck who opened the door.

"Hi, Blackberry," he said.

"Hi, Huck. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Strawberry is away visiting a new friend, and I take care of the house in the meantime," he answered. "Not much to do, though. Just a little cleaning up daily and then done."

"A new friend? Who?" I asked.

"I heard that the name was Crepes Suzette. She lives in a place named Pearis if I remember it right," he answered.

"I see. By the way, I wonder about Apple. Where is she now?" I asked.

"Apple stays in Blueberry Muffin's place for now," he replied.

"Strawberry left her sister just like that? That does not feel right for me," I said.

"Can't be helped. The trip might be too dangerous for her. That's what Strawberry said," he said.

"I think I'll visit her now," I said. "See you later."

"Wait. I'll go with you. I'm done cleaning anyway," he said.

Later, the two of us walked to Blueberry Valley to visit Blueberry Muffin and Apple Dumplin there. The trip went without anything happened on the way, and as we arrived we heard something from inside the house.

"Apple Dumplin' go!" a voice we recognized as Apple said.

"It might be dangerous, Apple. And you're still..." another voice we recognized as Blueberry said.

"Apple Dumplin' not too little!" Apple said.

We immediately entered the house to see what was happening. Once we entered, Apple noticed us and walked to me. Then she hugged my left leg.

"What's happening here?" I asked.

"Apple Dumplin' follow Strawberry," Apple said.

"Follow Strawberry? How?" I asked again.

"Blackberry car follow Strawberry," Apple replied.

"She wants to follow Strawberry with the help of your flying car. What was the name... Falcon wasn't it?" Blueberry said. "But I said..."

"Apple Dumplin' not too little!" Apple quickly interrupted, still hugging my leg. Then she started to pull my shirt. "Blackberry help Apple Dumplin'"

"Umm... I'd like to help but..." I said, pausing for a moment.

"Blackberry think Apple Dumplin' too little too?" Apple asked, looking at me with sore eyes.

"No. I mean... Falcon can't go that far," I replied. "It will run out of energy and fall into the ocean."

My last sentence unexpectedly depressed Apple very bad. I could see her sad face as she released her hug and walked away from me.

"Apple Dumplin' go sleep," Apple said with weak voice, and Blueberry took her into her bedroom. A few minutes later Blueberry returned to us.

"She's asleep now. But... she leaked some tears before that," Blueberry said.

"Pity..." I said.

Soon after, me and Huck left the place. On the way there was a conversation between us.

"I really feel bad about Apple," Huck said.

"Me too," I said.

"Is it true that Falcon can't go that far?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's true..." I said, pausing for a moment. "Although..."

"Although what?" he asked.

"Never mind. It's not possible," I replied, and then the two of us separated right in front of my house.

I spent the next hour thinking about Apple. Falcon indeed couldn't go all the way to Pearis because of its limited energy. Of course Blackbird could do that easily, but because it only had two seats that meant I would be the only one watching over her. I kinda hated to admit it, but Apple Dumplin' was indeed still too little to do such a long trip to a far away place. There had to be at least one other person watching her. So, I decided to modify Blackbird a little so it would have three seats instead of two. I had to sacrifice half of its speed, but it was still much faster than Falcon after the modification.

At the next day, I immediately went to Blueberry's house after having breakfast. I saw that Apple was still quite depressed when I arrived there.

"Apple Dumplin' go..." Apple mumbled while sitting anxiously on a sofa.

"She still wants to follow Strawberry?" I whispered to Blueberry.

"Yes, she absoloo-tely wants to," she whispered me back.

"If let's say we can go to Pearis, would you let her?" I whispered.

"I would, if you take me as well. Strawberry entrusted Apple to me, and I absoloo-tely have to watch over her," she whispered back.

"I see... I suppose you have to start packing your bag now," I whispered, and then I approached Apple.

"Do you really want to go?" I asked Apple.

"Apple Dumplin' go," she replied.

"Okay, I'll help you," I said, which surprised her. "But promise me one thing."

"Apple Dumplin' promise!" she replied with excitement.

"I haven't even said it. Anyway, promise me to stay close to us, okay?" I said.

"Apple Dumplin' stay close," she replied, still in excitement.

"Your Falcon actually can go there?" Blueberry asked.

"Meet me at my house later and see for yourselves," I said. "Now I'll go home and prepare."

"Okay," Blueberry said as I left her house.

I went home and filled my backpack with all of my devices, then I waited for the two girls to come. Some minutes later I heard a doorbell and I opened the door. Indeed the guests below were Blueberry and Apple as expected.

"Okay, now that you are here, we can go immediately," I said, taking my backpack and then going down the ladder.

"Where Blackberry car?" Apple asked.

"Come with me," I said, walking to the back side of the house.

The two girls followed me to the back of my house. I could see Apple being cheerful again like the usual Apple I had been knowing. Blueberry was also happy to see that as she walked hand-in-hand with the little girl. Once we were near Blackbird, I took its remote from the side pocket of my backpack and pressed one button to reveal it from its invisibility. The two girls were quite surprised seeing the new vehicle.

"This no Blackberry car," Apple said.

"Yeah, this is absoloo-tely not Falcon," Blueberry said.

"This is Blackbird. I made it one week ago," I said.

"Oh, then where is Falcon?" Blueberry asked. I then took Falcon's remote from the other side pocket of my backpack and pressed the button to reveal it.

"It's right there. Like I said, Pearis is too far for Falcon so we will go there with Blackbird," I replied. "Come aboard."

Then all of us got onboard Blackbird with me sitting at the front as the pilot and the two girls sitting at the back side-by-side. I turned the engine on and as usual the monitor displayed the map of the planet and a flashing red arrow to mark the current position.

"Pearis, France," I said, and then a flashing green dot appeared at the east of current position. "Have you put your seatbelt on?"

"Yes," Blueberry replied.

"Apple Dumplin' too," Apple said.

"Okay. Hit it, Blackbird!" I said, and Blackbird floated high. There was a pause for a few seconds, and then it began accelerating. Like before, the acceleration pressed us all to our seats.

"Woooow!" Blueberry shouted.

"Aaaa!" Apple yelled.

"Hold on. It will pass soon," I said, and then a few seconds later the acceleration gradually ended. "All right. 30 minutes and we're there."

"That fast? This one is absoloo-tely better than Falcon," Blueberry said.

"Not really. There are some points where Falcon is better than Blackbird," I replied.

"What are they?" she asked.

"First. As you can see, there are only three seats," I replied. "I can't use this to bring many friends to travel with me,"

"Oh..." Blueberry said.

"Then, Blackbird is fast only in long distance trips. While flying around in an area it is very slow," I said.

"Apple not understand..." Apple said.

"Also, I can't call it to come to me like I can do with Falcon," I continued.

"Are there more?" Blueberry asked.

"Yeah. It can't become invisible while flying. And lastly, it doesn't have a harpoon," I said.

"Falcon has a harpoon? For what?" Blueberry asked.

"Its useful for many things," I replied, remembering what had happened around one year before in the Land of Dreams and also another occasion where the harpoon had saved Rainbow.

The trip continued without much conversation. Later Blackbird finally deccelerated, implying that the destination was near. Once it completely stopped, we looked around and saw that we were right above a big city. For me, the city felt like a pastry-themed Greenhill.

"Switch to manual," I said, and a steering wheel came out.

"Where are we going to land?" Blueberry asked.

"There's a lake over there," I replied, pointing at a visible lake on a distance. "Blackbird can float like a boat, so landing on water will not be a problem."

I then piloted Blackbird to land on the lake I had just seen. The landing was smooth and went without any trouble. I then docked it at the edge of the lake so all of us could get off on the ground instead of having to swim first. Once I finished docking, the three of us got off, but not without some people staring at us with confused face.

"Some people are looking at us," Blueberry said.

"Probably they are not used to seeing a vehicle like Blackbird," I said, putting Blackbird into invisibility. "I say just ignore them."

"Oh, alright," Blueberry said, and the three of us walked away from that place.

The walk inside the city didn't feel so great for me, probably because I had seen and walked in a big city before. However, for Blueberry who had never seen such, and for Apple who had not seen much of Greenhill, the walk seemed to be an astonishing one.

"Is Strawberry here already?" Blueberry asked.

"I don't know. But looking at the speed of her balloon, she should be here..." I said, pausing for a moment to think. "Well, about now."

"Apple Dumplin' see Strawberry," Apple said.

"What? Where?" Blueberry asked.

"Strawberry balloon," Apple replied, pointing upward.

All of us looked upwards and indeed we saw a strawberry-shaped hot air balloon I recognized as the same one I had seen at the previous day. However, I noticed a huge hole on it.

"It looks like trouble," I said.

Then, to make matters worse for people below, Strawberry started to drop sandbags. The first one dropped on the ground, but I saw her going to drop the second one right above a little girl whose age was just slightly older than Apple.

"Telekinator!" I shouted and my backpack threw it right into my grip. I then quickly used it so the sandbag stopped right above the girl's head. Then I slowly moved the sandbag to the ground. The girl seemed to notice everything happening.

"Are you okay?" I asked, approaching the girl. Blueberry and Apple followed me as well.

"Merci!" the girl replied.

"Uh... what?" I asked.

"It looks like the language here is different," Blueberry said.

"Oh I see. Speak All!" I said and my backpack threw the device into my grip. I then wore it on my head and turned it on.

"What is that, Blackberry?" Blueberry asked.

"Something I made two days ago," I replied, then I asked the little girl again. "Are you okay?"

"Me fine. Thank you," the girl replied.

"I'm Blackberry Bun. What's your name?" I asked.

"Me Cherry Cuddler," the girl replied. "And me go home now."

The girl then left us waving her hand, and we did the same too.

"You know, I was confused seeing you speaking in her language all of the sudden," Blueberry said.

"Apple Dumplin' too," Apple said.

"This is Speak All, and I suppose you already know what this is for," I said, pointing at the headset I wore and throwing Telekinator for my backpack to suck. "I guess I'll keep wearing this for now."

"Yeah. By the way, who is she?" Blueberry asked.

"Her name is Cherry Cuddler," I replied. "Anyway, let's go to Strawberry."

"Yeah, let's go," she said.

The three of us then walked towards where Strawberry's balloon seemed to had fallen. On the way we saw another sandbag on the road, but we couldn't find the balloon or Strawberry herself.

"Where could she be?" Blueberry asked.

"I don't know," I answered.

"Apple Dumplin' not know," Apple said.

"Let's ask around," I said, looking around to see if there was any people to ask.

"You're the only one who can," Blueberry said.

I then asked some people around if they had seen the hot air balloon. After asking some people, I returned to Blueberry and Apple.

"They said she had gone that way along with another girl," I said, pointing to a direction.

"Another girl? Who?" Blueberry asked.

"I was lucky. One person recognized the girl as Crepes Suzette, the owner of a nearby boutique named Chez Crepes," I replied. "And she's also the new friend Strawberry wanted to visit, looking at the name."

"That's absoloo-tely good to hear. Let's go now," she said.

The three of us then walked towards the boutique one person had mentioned. Because all of us had never been in Pearis, there were some occasions where we got lost and had to ask around again. In the end we finally found the building with `Chez Crepes` on it.

"There it is," I said.

"Let's go in," Blueberry said.

"Apple Dumplin' can no wait," Apple said.

I knocked on the door a few times, but there was no response at all. Out of curiosity, I tried opening the door and it turned out that it was not locked. All of us then quietly went inside to see if there was anybody there. However, we couldn't find any people inside.

"Where are they now?" I said, wondering.

"Well..." Blueberry said, pausing for a moment. "Maybe they are walking around the city now."

"That's possible. Maybe we can walk around the city as well and see if we can meet her along the way by chance. What do you think?" I asked.

"Apple like walk around," Apple said.

"That's an absoloo-tely good idea," Blueberry said.

So, the three of us walked around the city for sightseeing while also hoping to meet Strawberry on the way. We enjoyed the walk very much that without our knowing it started to get dark. Luck was not on our side because even after the night arrived we hadn't met Strawberry.

"It's night now, but..." Blueberry said, pausing for a moment. "Why Apple isn't sleepy yet?"

"Apple not sleepy," Apple said.

"Different time zone. In Strawberryland now there are still some hours before bedtime," I answered.

"Oh, I see," Blueberry said.

"Apple Dumplin' not understand," Apple said.

"You'll understand in time," I said.

While still walking, suddenly we heard a dog barking and a girl screaming. We immediately ran towards the source of the voice, and found a wild dog cornering a little girl who was no other than Cherry Cuddler.

"Cherry!" I shouted.

"Blackberry! Cherry scared!" Cherry said, trembling and leaking tears. I immediately ran to her, grabbed her, and brought her running away from the dog. The dog chased the two of us and it kept doing that until I finally ran out of stamina in an alleyway. The dog then cornered us both, making the situation hopeless.

"Cherry scared..." Cherry said, sobbing.

"I'll protect you, Cherry," I said, hugging her even though I was trembling as well.

"There you are!" we heard a voice. We looked on the source and found out that it was from a dog catcher. He then ran towards the dog, ready to use his net to catch the dog. The dog seemed aware of the dog catcher and immediately ran away. The catcher kept chasing the dog, leaving both of us in the alley. However, later he returned without the dog.

"Heh, that dog sure can run," he said with upset face. "Are you two okay?"

"Cherry Cuddler fine," Cherry replied.

"How about you, boy?" he asked.

"I... I'm just fine," I replied, running out of breath.

"Glad to hear that. Stray dogs often cause trouble," he said, and suddenly rain fell down so the three of us decided to take shelter under a nearby canopy.

"You catch stray dogs everyday?" I asked.

"Yes, and I just caught a poodle a few minutes ago," he replied.

"A poodle?" I asked.

"That one seemed like a lost dog. I'll put an announcement at the pound so the owner can retrieve the dog later," he said.

"Oh, I see," I said.

"Rain stop," Cherry said, noticing that the rain had stopped.

"If you two are okay, I guess I can leave you here now," he said.

"Yes, thank you for the help, sir," I said.

"You're welcome," he replied and then he left us.

"Thank you, Blackberry," Cherry said.

"I... I did nothing," I replied.

"You tried," she said.

"Well... okay, you're welcome. But now I'm separated from my friends," I said, realizing that I had left Blueberry and Apple.

"Blackberry friend?" she asked.

"Yeah, I hope they won't get into trouble," I said. "Let's look for them."

The two of us then walked in the alley for some minutes until we saw the dog catcher we had met before. He seemed to be upset, looking at the cage on his truck.

"Hello again, sir. Something wrong happened?" I asked.

"Yeah. The poodle escaped somehow," he answered, pointing at the opened cage.

"Escape?" Cherry said.

"I'll go looking for the dog," he said.

"By the way, sir. Have you seen my friends? A girl in blue with blueberry hat, and a little girl in yellow with apple images on it," I asked.

"Hmm... no. I have just seen a girl in strawberry hat, but no girl in blueberry hat," he replied.

"Strawberry hat? That could be my friend as well! Where did she go?" I asked.

"That way," he replied, pointing to a direction.

"I see. Thank you, sir!" I said, immediately walking to the direction.

"You're welcome," he replied and left the place as well.

The two of us walked towards the direction, only to end up lost again. Cherry actually knew the place because she had been living there, but because we were looking for Blueberry and Apple or Strawberry, and we didn't know where they were, that was the same as lost.

"Stop! Thief!" suddenly we heard a voice.

"What was that?" I said, wondering.

"Cherry not know," Cherry said.

We looked around to see if we could find out what was going on, and saw a bus running wild towards us. We immediately stepped aside to avoid it, and to my surprise I could recognize the driver as Strawberry. Not long after that, someone I assumed to be the real driver of the bus passed by running while yelling the same words I had heard.

"What is Strawberry doing? Stealing a bus?" I thought, wondering.

"Blackberry!" someone, whose voice I recognized as Blueberry, said from behind. "I was looking for you!"

"Blackberry no leave us again," Apple said.

"Sorry, but that was an emergency," I replied.

"Blackberry friend?" Cherry asked.

"Yes. This is Blueberry Muffin, and this is Apple Dumplin'" I answered.

"Apple Dumplin' tired," Apple said, yawning.

"Oh, it's almost her bedtime, isn't it?" Blueberry said. "We don't bring anything for sleeping. We have no choice other than returning to Strawberryland."

"Well, by coincidence the lake where I have parked Blackbird is right there," I said, pointing to a lake I recognized as the place I had parked Blackbird at.

"Cherry tired too," Cherry said, yawning.

"Oh, we'll take you to your home first. Where is it?" I asked.

"Cherry home close. Cherry walk alone," she said, then she left us waving her hand and we did the same.

After Cherry disappeared from our sight, all of us agreed to return to Strawberryland and come back to Pearis at the next day. I didn't tell Blueberry and Apple about what I had seen. I could only hope Strawberry didn't get into big trouble.

-End of Chapter 23-

Referenced episode: The Friendship Club. The first episode of World of Friends DVD. The episode is also known as "A Trip to Pearis, France"


	28. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Little Cherry

At the next day after the trip to Pearis, I went to Blueberry Muffin's house to ask if they wanted to go to Pearis again to look for Strawberry, whom I assumed to be still there.

"Apple Dumplin' not want," Apple said, which surprised me a bit.

"Oh, why is that?" I asked.

"Apple Dumplin' play here. Tomorrow go," she replied, which I could clearly understand.

"Tomorrow then?" Blueberry asked.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow then," I said, and I left the place.

Even though it had been settled, what I had seen at the previous night still worried me. Strawberry couldn't drive a car, and I had seen her driving a bus. Not to mention the man who had been chasing her. Because I was very curious, I decided to go to Pearis again on my own.

Right after arriving home, I took my backpack and got onboard Blackbird. I then turned its engine on, set the destination, and spoke the usual keyword. "Hit it, Blackbird!"

The flight went without any trouble, and 30 minutes later Blackbird arrived in Pearis. I then switched it into manual control and piloted it to land on the lake where I had parked it at the previous day. After completing the landing, I put Speak All on my head, got off Blackbird, and put the vehicle into invisibility. Like in the previous day, some people stared with confused face, but I ignored them and walked away.

While walking towards Chez Crepes, where I expected Strawberry to be, I noticed a bus parked nearby as the bus I had seen at the previous night because the man who had chased the bus was standing right next to it drinking a cup of coffee. I then approached the man.

"Hello, sir," I greeted.

"Good day, how can I help?" he replied.

"Well, I'm curious about what happened last night," I said. "I saw you chasing this bus."

"Oh, that... Two kids accidentally made my bus run while I was sitting at a nearby cafe having a cup of coffee," he replied. "That's why now I have my coffee right here. I don't want it to happen again."

"Oh, but I heard you yelling 'Stop! Thief!' that time," I said.

"I was surprised and panicked. But when I found out that they were kids, I then understood," he said.

"Did anything bad happen to them?" I asked.

"No, they found the brake at the right time," he replied.

"Glad to hear that," I said.

"Are they your friends?" he asked.

"Umm, yes," I said.

"One of them gave me money for damage, but they only broke the gear shift stick. The amount she gave was too much. Maybe I can ask you to return this to her?" he said, taking some money from his pocket and giving it to me.

"Oh, okay," I said, accepting the money.

"Well, it's time to work again. I better get going," The man said, looking at his watch. "Do you want me to take you to her place?"

"Hmm, no, I'll walk myself. Thanks," I replied.

"Okay, then see you later, kid," he said, getting on his bus, and then the bus went away.

With the information I had just obtained, I had no reason to stay in Pearis for any longer. I then decided to go home immediately and let Strawberry have her good time with her new friend for that day. While walking back to where I had parked Blackbird, Someone called me from behind.

"Hey, Blackberry!" the voice I recognized as Cherry called.

"Oh, hi, Cherry!" I replied, turning around to see her.

"Where Blackberry friends?" she asked.

"They are home. I come alone today," I replied. "And I'm going back home now."

"Why so fast?" she asked.

"I'll come again tomorrow. Don't worry," I replied.

"Cherry can go to Blackberry home?" she asked, which kinda surprised me.

"Uh, well, my house is... far away," I said.

"Cherry can walk far," she said.

"No, I mean, umm..." I said, running out of words.

"Blackberry not like Cherry?" she asked.

"Of course it's not like that. It's just that..." I said, pausing for a moment. I doubted on granting her wish because like how I felt about Apple, Cherry was still too little to do a long trip. However, like before, pity defeated it. "Alright then, come with me."

"Thank you!" she said, clapping her hands in excitement. Then I brought her with me to the place I had parked Blackbird.

"Wait a moment..." I said, digging through my pocket to find Blackbird's remote.

"Okay," she replied as I found the remote. I then put Blackbird out of its invisibility, which then surprised her. "What this?"

"This is Blackbird. Now do you still want to come to my house?" I asked.

"Cherry want," she replied.

"Then get inside, otherwise we won't get there at all," I said. She then got inside and sat on the left back seat as I sat on the pilot seat.

"This car? Or this plane?" she asked as I turned the engine on and set the destination.

"I can say... plane. Hit it, Blackbird!" I replied, and Blackbird departed to Strawberryland.

"Aaaa!" she shouted, being pressed by the force of acceleration.

"Hold on! It will pass!" I told her, and soon the acceleration stopped.

"Cherry surprised," she said.

"It's fine, don't worry. We will arrive in 30 minutes," I said.

"Where Blackberry home?" she asked.

"A place called Strawberryland," I answered.

"Strawberryland?" she said. "Many friends?"

"Yes, there are a lot of friends there. You have met Blueberry Muffin, right. She really loves books and she has a lot of them in her house," I said.

"More friends?" she asked.

"Yes. There's also this Angel Cake. She is..." I replied and ended up telling her everything about every friends I knew. Even when Blackbird arrived in Strawberryland, I was not finished yet.

"More friends?" she kept asking.

"It's better to meet them yourself. We're here," I replied, noticing that Blackbird had stopped right above Strawberryland. "Switch to manual."

While piloting Blackbird manually towards my house, I noticed a group of friends, who were Raspberry, Orange, Huck, Ginger, Apple, and Angel, playing ball in the outfield. I then thought it would be better to land there so that Cherry could meet them soon, and i decided so. I then piloted Blackbird towards the group and landed next to them. I could notice their confused face because they hadn't ever seen Blackbird yet, but then I got off.

"Hi, everyone," I greeted them.

"Hi, Blackberry!" Raspberry greeted back. "See? I told you that it must have been him!"

"I thought so too, but that is not the flying car I remember," Orange said.

"So you've made a new flying car, huh Blackberry Bun? What's the difference, huh Blackberry Bun?" Ginger asked. "And what's with that thing on your head, huh Blackberry Bun?"

"Well, we can save that for later. Let me introduce you all to a new friend," I said.

"A new friend? Who? Where?" Huck asked.

"Come here, Cherry!" I said towards Blackbird, and Cherry came out from it.

"Cherry!" Apple said.

"Aww, she's so cute!" Angel commented.

"Cherry not understand," Cherry said, which put everyone else besides me into a confused face.

"Huh? What did she say?" Orange asked.

"I don't understand," Raspberry said.

"Oh, I forgot..." I said, taking Speak All from my head and then putting it on Cherry's head. "There. Now introduce yourself, Cherry."

"Hi, everyone. Me Cherry Cuddler," Cherry said.

"Hi, Cherry. I'm Angel Cake," Angel said.

"The name's Ginger Snap. Like in snap!" Ginger said, snapping her finger.

"I'm Huckleberry Pie," Huck said.

"I'm Orange Blossom," Orange said.

"Raspberry Torte," Raspberry said.

"Cherry know Apple Dumplin'" Apple said.

"Where do you come from?" Angel asked.

"Pearis," Cherry answered.

"Pearis? The place Strawberry is going to?" Orange asked.

"Certainly," I replied, then I told them all about my trip with Blueberry and Apple and how we had met Cherry for the first time. After I was done telling, all of us began to have a fun time playing together. The wonderful time lasted for several hours until Cherry began to look tired and drowsy.

"Cherry tired," she said, yawning.

"Huh? But there are still a lot of time before bedtime," Huck said, looking at the bright blue sky.

"In Pearis it's almost bedtime," I said, looking at my watch. "Come, Cherry. I'll take you home."

"We meet again?" Cherry asked.

"Yes, of course," Raspberry said.

"Let's play again someday," Huck said.

"Come here, Cherry. Let me hug you first before you go," Angel said, offering open arms.

"Cherry love hug," Cherry said, approaching Angel and then the two of them had a big hug.

Cherry then got onboard Blackbird and I followed as well. She waved her hand to the kids and they did the same to her, saying proper goodbye as I closed Blackbird's door. Soon, Blackbird departed to Pearis leaving the kids on the outfield of Strawberryland gazing at the bright blue sky.

Half an hour later we arrived in Pearis, and indeed it was already dark over there. I got off Blackbird expecting Cherry to follow, but she didn't. I then had a bad feeling and took a look at the back seat, and indeed the feeling was right. Cherry fell asleep on the seat, and looking at her peaceful face I couldn't make it to wake her up. I then carefully took Speak All from her head and put it on my head. Then I carefully put her on my back and carried her on it.

I intended to somehow find Cherry's house and carry her all the way there, although I still didn't know how. I remembered her saying that her house was close, so I then decided to ask people around if they knew about Cherry and her home. Just as I started to walk away from Blackbird, someone called from behind.

"Hey, kid!" the voice I recognized as the dog catcher called.

"Oh, good evening, sir," I replied, turning around.

"I see that you are indeed a visitor like I thought," he said, looking at Blackbird which I had forgotten to put invisibility on.

"Yeah, I come from a far away place," I replied. "Its name is Strawberryland."

"Strawberryland?!" he said with surprised face.

"You know it?" I asked.

"Well, you see, I have a twin brother and he works there as a ticket collector on trains," he replied. "Anyway, what happened to Little Cherry?"

"Oh, you actually know her?" I asked.

"Almost every people around here know her as Little Cherry. Everyday she walks around and greets every single person she meets," he answered.

"Oh, that's good to hear. She visited Strawberryland and fell asleep on the way back here. Now I'm looking for her house so I can carry her there," I said.

"I see. Then I'll take you there myself," he said.

"Thank you, sir!" I said.

The dog catcher then escorted me all the way to Cherry's house, which was not much different than Chez Crepes in terms of size. It was indeed close from the place I had parked Blackbird at.

"Does she live alone here?" I asked as we stood right in front of her house.

"Yes," he replied. "But with so many friends she has around, I can't say that she lives alone."

"I see..." I said.

"Let's go in. She welcomes anyone to come so she never locks the door," he said, opening the front door.

"Isn't it dangerous?" I asked. I thought that it was possible for someone as mean as Licorice Whip or Purple Pie Man to exist in the city, looking at the amount of people living in it.

"Many people think so too and tried to advise her, but well..." he replied. "She is too trusting when it comes to this."

"Oh, I see," I said.

We then went all the way to Cherry's bedroom, which in my opinion was nice and cozy. I then carefully put her on the bed there and covered her with the blanket on it. I took one last look on her cute and peaceful face and then the two of us quietly left the bedroom and the house as well.

"Thank you for the help, sir," I said, closing the front door.

"It was no problem," he replied. "By the way, the poodle found its owner."

"That's good to hear," I said as both of us started to walk back to my Blackbird.

"The owner is the girl who owns Chez Crepes," he said. "Oh, and I saw the girl in strawberry hat with her too,"

"I see. I'll come again tomorrow to visit her," I said.

Later we arrived at the place where I had parked Blackbird. I then got onboard and turned the engine on, but before closing the door I said my farewell to the dog catcher.

"Bye for now, sir. Once again thanks for your help," I said.

"You're welcome, kid. And say hello to my brother for me if you meet him someday," he said.

I nodded as a reply, and then I closed Blackbird's door. After setting the destination and speaking the usual keyword, Blackbird departed to Strawberryland, leaving the dog catcher gazing at the night sky and waving his hand.

30 minutes later I arrived back in Strawberryland. I saw that the same kids were still playing in the outfield. I then landed next to them and got off.

"She's now asleep in her house," I said.

"I sure hope to meet her again," Orange said.

"Yeah, she's very nice," Huck said.

"She's so cute and cheerful! And hugging her felt so nice!" Angel said.

"You can say that again," Raspberry said.

"By the way, Blackberry. You haven't answered my question, am I right? I bet this new flying car has something special the other car doesn't, am I right again? What is it, huh Blackberry Bun?" Ginger asked.

"Well, alright. This is Blackbird. It is much faster than Falcon and can travel in much longer distance," I replied, looking towards Blackbird. "However, there are many things which Falcon can do while Blackbird can't."

"Really? What are those things, huh Blackberry Bun?" she asked again, and I replied telling her the same things I had told Blueberry at the day before. The rest of the day passed without anything special.

At the next day, as I had promised, I went back to Pearis with Blueberry and Apple. On the way of the flight, I told Blueberry about the bus chase which happened to Strawberry, and the money I had to return to Crepes Suzette. After we arrived I landed Blackbird on the usual spot, and then the three of us walked towards Chez Crepes. However, while we were getting close, at a distance we saw Strawberry's balloon floating up leaving the city.

"Binoculars!" I said, and my backpack gave me the item which I used to take a closer look at the balloon. Indeed the passengers were Strawberry and her pets, although I noticed Strawberry wearing a different outfit.

"I think we are a little too late," Blueberry said.

"Late," Apple said.

"Let's go there anyway. We haven't seen the new friend, right?" I said.

"You're right. Let's go there," Blueberry said.

"Apple want see new friend," Apple said.

The three of us continued walking until we arrived at Chez Crepes. We noticed one mannequin in the display wearing Strawberry's outfit and then we went inside. There was a girl looking away from us, seeming not to notice us entering. The girl wore Strawberry's outfit, but because of her long pink hair I could notice that she was not Strawberry.

"Strawberry Shortcake? Is that you?" Blueberry said, seeming not to notice the difference. The girl then looked at us.

"Good day! 'ow can I 'elp you?" she said.

"Oh, you're not Strawberry," Blueberry said.

"No. I'm Crepes Suzette. Strawbelly S'ortcake iz my friend and ze 'az gone 'ome," she said.

"Is my Speak All not functioning well, or is she trying to speak in our language? It's kinda hard to understand her," I whispered to Blueberry.

"She's trying to speak in our language," Blueberry said.

"I see," I said, then I put Speak All off from my head.

"We are friends of Strawberry too. I'm Blueberry Muffin," Blueberry said to Crepes. "Nice to meet you, Crepes."

"Apple Dumplin' is Strawberry sister," Apple said.

"I'm Blackberry Bun," I said. "Oh, before I forget. Please take this," I continued, giving her the money from the bus driver.

"What iz zese money?" Crepes asked.

"The one you gave to the bus driver. I met him yesterday, and he said it was too much so he asked me to return this," I answered.

"O' I zee. T'ankz," she said, accepting the money.

"So, are you coming to the festival?" I asked.

"Feztival? W'at feztival?" she asked, pausing for a brief moment. "Oh, Strawbelly's friendz'ip feztival! I zure will!"

"That's good to hear," I said.

"But not now! You zee, t'ere iz a fas'ion contezt t'morrow and I'm going to be t'ere!" she said. "After t'at I will write 'er a letter and t'en I'll come!"

"I see. Then I wish you luck on the contest," I said.

"Merci!" she said. "T'at means t'ank you!"

Soon, the three of us left Chez Crepes. There was not much left to do because we had walked around town two days before, so at first we intended to go home. However, I soon remembered something.

"By the way, how about visiting Cherry's house?" I asked.

"That's absoloo-tely a great idea!" Blueberry said.

"Where Cherry house?" Apple asked.

"It's close from Blackbird like she has said," I replied, putting Speak All back on my head.

"Then let's go there," Blueberry said, and then we walked towards Cherry's house.

The trip towards Cherry's house didn't take long. Soon we arrived in front of her house, and I knocked on the door. We waited for a moment but there was no answer. I knocked the door once again, but like before there was no answer at all. I then tried opening the door, but it was locked.

"It's locked..." I said. "That's weird."

"Probably she's walking around town like before," Blueberry said.

"No. I was told that she never locks her door," I replied. "I have a bad feeling... Vision!"

My backpack then gave me the device I had asked for, and then I replaced my glasses with it. Using the device, I observed the inside of Cherry's house. At first I only saw empty rooms, but once I got to see Cherry's living room I got surprised. I saw a man whose face was covered in cloth and shades digging through all shelves, cabinets, and drawers in the house. In the same room I saw Cherry sitting on the floor leaning to the wall. Her arms and legs were tied up and her mouth was gagged with a cloth.

"Oh no. There's a thief inside, and he has taken Cherry hostage," I said.

"What?!" Blueberry said, surprised.

"Call the police, quickly!" I said, taking Replicator and copying Speak All to Blueberry's head.

"What about you?" she asked as the copy of Speak All materialized on her head.

"I will go inside to make sure Cherry will be fine," I said, taking Blind Spot and putting it on my shirt.

"Okay, be careful," she said, and then she left with Apple in a hurry.

I then used Key Master to open the door quietly. Once I got inside I closed and locked the door again, and then I quietly walked to the living room. When I got there the thief was still in there searching for things to steal. I had no idea about how to buy time so the police would come before the thief escaped or harmed Cherry any further.

While thinking, I got careless and bumped on a small shelf, resulting the fall of some things which had been put on it. The thief got alarmed and looked towards the place I was standing on. Of course he didn't see me because Blind Spot kept me invisible.

"Who's there?!" he shoutes, and I kept myself silent.

Because there was no answer, the thief then continued searching. I still got no idea at all, so for then I decided to approach Cherry and calm her down, because she seemed very afraid. I then quietly kneeled next to her and started whispering.

"Cherry..." I whispered.

"Mmm?" Cherry mumbled, looking around.

"It's me. Blackberry Bun," I whispered. "Don't worry, Cherry. I'm here to keep you safe. Just calm down, okay?"

"Mmm..." Cherry mumbled, nodding. Her face no longer showed any fright.

"Hey! Who are you talking to?!" the thief suddenly asked.

"Mmmm!" Cherry mumbled, shaking her head.

"Don't say you're talking with a... ghost!? I'm afraid of ghost," he said, starting to show signs of fear.

"Mmm," Cherry mumbled and shook her head again. Then the thief continued his search.

What had just happened gave me an idea. I then took Telekinator and used it to lift a small vase and put it again quickly so it made a noise. The thief noticed the sound and looked at the vase. I then lifted the vase and put it down once again. The thief started to show greater signs of fear.

"G-g-ghost?" he said, trembling. Then I lifted more things with both telekinator and my own hand, and I also shook some furniture in the room. Seeing all those seemed to frighten him so greatly that he became speechless and didn't move at all.

"D-d-don't come near me!" he said, trembling greatly. Another idea came to my mind and I put it into practice immediately.

"I'm the guardian of this house! You have trespassed into my home, and you will be punished!" I shouted with heavy voice.

"N-n-no! Please no!" he begged, running away towards the front door. I followed him and saw him trying to open the door I had locked. He was so afraid that he didn't notice the key of the door hanging in the keyhole.

"What punishment should I give you for breaking in?" I shouted with heavy voice again.

"No! Please don't! I... I have learned my lesson! No more breaking into a house! I promise!" he said, leaning to the door and trembling. I then heard a sound of siren coming close.

"Then turn yourself in to the police outside!" I shouted.

"O-okay! I will!" he said, calming down.

He then opened the door and turn himself in to the police Blueberry had called. One policeman immediately went inside after the thief had confessed to have a hostage in the house. In the living room he saw Cherry still tied up and gagged there, and immediately released her.

"Are you okay, Little Cherry?" he asked.

"Cherry afraid..." Cherry said, hugging the policeman.

"It's okay, Little Cherry. It's over now," he said. "Next time please lock the door and don't open it for someone you don't know okay?"

"Cherry promise..." Cherry said.

After everything had been over and the policemen had left, there were only Cherry, Blueberry, and Apple left inside the house. I then took Blind Spot off from my shirt and threw it back into my backpack.

"I'm glad we were here at the right time," I said.

"Thank you, all," Cherry said. "Cherry promise Cherry lock door."

"That's good to hear," I said.

All of us then spent some fun time together until Cherry's bedtime came. With proper goodbye the three of us then left Cherry's house and walked back to where I had parked Blackbird. Soon, we arrived there, got onboard, and then with the usual keywords Blackbird departed to Strawberryland.

-End of Chapter 24-

Referenced episode: The Friendship Club. The first episode of World of Friends DVD. The episode is also known as "A Trip to Pearis, France".


	29. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: A Festival of Friends

We arrived at Strawberryland 30 minutes later without any trouble. I then piloted Blackbird towards my home and landed smoothly there. Once all of us got off, I put it into invisibility like usual.

"We're home again at last," I said.

"Thanks for the trip, Blackberry," Blueberry said.

"Apple Dumplin' happy," Apple said.

"By the way, do you know when Strawberry might arrive here?" Blueberry asked.

"Well..." I said, pausing to think. "Around midnight maybe."

"Midnight? Are you sure?" she asked again.

"Not really, but even if I made a mistake it shouldn't be too far," I replied.

"That's absoloo-tely not a good time to arrive," she said.

"Yeah, she might fall asleep and forget to land," I said.

"We should tell this to other friends," she said. "Let's gather them all in the clubhouse."

"Okay. Let's use Falcon then," I said, taking Falcon's remote from my backpack.

The next thing we did was going to each house of other friends and taking them to the clubhouse. Everything took around half an hour until every single kid in Strawberryland were gathered in the clubhouse.

"All right. Now that everyone's here, what's the matter?" Raspberry asked when I arrived at the clubhouse with Apricot.

"Yeah, what are you gonna tell us?" Angel asked.

"Hmph, I bet it'll be just a waste of time," Peppermint said.

"Okay," Blueberry said, clearing her throat. "Everyone, we all know that Strawberry is away to Pearis, right?"

"Yeah," Orange said.

"Something happened to her?" Huck asked.

"She's on her way back here now," Blueberry said. "But Blackberry noticed something bad."

"Huh? What is it? Is there a wind coming to blow her balloon away? Or a storm going to flip it over? What is it, huh Blackberry Bun?" Ginger asked.

"It's not that bad. It's just that..." I said, pausing for a brief moment. "Her arrival here will be around midnight."

"It will?" Lemon asked.

"Wait! That's it?" Apricot asked.

"Are you asking us to prepare a welcome back party?" Peppermint asked. "In... midnight? Yeah, right."

"We can't do that. Midnight is over bedtime," Orange said, then she seemed to realize something. "Oh! Now I understand!"

"I just realized it too, matey," Rainbow said. "She might fall asleep on her balloon."

"Yes, and then there will be absoloo-tely nobody to land the balloon," Blueberry said.

"What we're gonna do?" Angel asked, seeming worried.

"Apple worry," Apple said.

"We are all worried, Apple. You're not alone," I said.

"I'm thinking of having all of us watching for her in turn tonight," Blueberry said.

"We all? How?" Lemon asked.

"Let's see..." I said, thinking. "There are... twelve of us, right?"

"Yeah, I think," Huck said, looking around and counting. Almost everybody else did the same.

"We'll split into three groups of four," I said.

"Huh? For what?" Raspberry asked.

"Yeah, what we're gonna do with three groups?" Angel asked.

"I remember three places where we can have a good view over Strawberryland. We will put one group on each place," I said.

"Where are the places?" Orange asked.

"The tower of this clubhouse, Huck's fort, and the rooftop of my house," I replied.

"Sounds worth a try," Peppermint said.

"Let's get going then! What are you waiting for, huh everyone?" Ginger said.

"Yeah, that will be cool," Apricot said

After everything were settled, each group went to the place it was assigned on. The three kids who were with me to watch on my rooftop were Orange, Peppermint, and Rainbow. When the four of us arrived at my house, the sky was starting to get dark.

"Okay, now who's first to watch?" I asked. "The others should get some sleep now."

"Hmph. I will, but first you have to show us the way to your rooftop," Peppermint said.

"Oh, okay. Come here," I replied, walking towards one switch on the wall. "This is the switch you have to use to go to the rooftop,"

I then pressed the switch, resulting a ladder to come down from the ceiling. Then I climbed it and opened the trapdoor at its end. The three girls followed me after that, and soon the four of us were on the rooftop of my house.

"What a beautiful view!" Orange said.

"Hey! I can see my boat!" Rainbow said, pointing to Punch Bowl Pond.

"I can see the clubhouse from here," Peppermint said, looking towards a direction.

"Okay, now that it's settled, let's get some sleep," I said.

So, I along with Orange and Rainbow went to sleep on one sofa in the living room of my house while Peppermint stayed on the rooftop to watch for Strawberry's balloon. I didn't know how well the other groups were doing, especially the group with Apple because I knew Apple wouldn't be able to stay awake so that group pretty much only had three people, but I really hoped they were doing well.

Peppermint walked around my rooftop, occasionally using the binoculars I had left there. She didn't know how much time had passed during her turn, but she felt like she had been there for hours.

"Heh, the things you do for your friends," she mumbled in anxiety, still walking back and forth on my rooftop. She kept doing that for a while until later she came down to wake Rainbow up and switch with her.

"Rise and shine, kid!" she said, shaking Rainbow's shoulder.

"Huh...? Aye Aye, Captain," Rainbow replied, slowly getting up.

"You better do it right!" Peppermint said, and then she went to sleep on the part of the sofa where Rainbow had slept.

Rainbow then went up to the rooftop with drowsy eyes, leaving the rest of us sleeping on the sofa. It turned out that Peppermint couldn't stay still in her sleep because she kicked me several times, waking me up. In the end she fell to my side, forcing me to get away from the sofa. I couldn't sleep again after that, so I decided to switch with the one on the rooftop. I climbed the ladder to the rooftop, only to find Rainbow asleep there.

"Hey, Rainbow," I said, shaking her a little. She slowly woke up.

"Uh... Oh, I fell asleep? Sorry..." she said.

"Go back to sleep. I'll take it from here," I said.

"Oh, okay..." she said, yawning and walking to the trapdoor.

Once she was gone, I watched around for a while, occasionally using the binoculars. It only took a few minutes until drowsiness attacked, and I couldn't help sitting on the rooftop. In another few minutes I lied down and finally succumbed to the drowsiness.

"Hey, wake up you lazy bum!" A voice woke me up, and I recognized it as Peppermint's voice.

"You fell asleep too, matey?" Rainbow said.

"I didn't even get to watch," Orange said.

I slowly woke up, realizing that the sky was already bright. I had missed my watch, and that could mean bad things to Strawberry.

"Oh my, we better check on other groups and hope they did fine," I said.

"I don't think they did if you ask me," Peppermint said.

We then quickly went to Huck's fort, the closest of the two other places. When we arrived there, it turned out that Peppermint's thought was true. All four kids who had been placed there, to be exact Huck, Ginger, Angel, and Raspberry, were fast asleep.

"Hey, wake up, lazy bums!" Peppermint shouted, which woke them up in surprise.

"Huh? What?! What happened?" Huck asked.

"Yeah, what happened?" Angel asked.

"Come on, you all! Did you forget what you were doing last night?" Peppermint asked in upset tone.

"Yeah I remember of course. we are supposed to watch over Strawberry's balloon, am I right?" Ginger said. "But hey, I didn't get to watch at all. Nope, not ever did. Someone fell asleep, am I right again?"

"I watched for her last night, and then I switched with... Angel Cake," Raspberry said, then everybody else looked towards Angel Cake, who seemed to be timid at that time.

"Umm... Yeah... I fell asleep again after Raspberry woke me up... I'm sorry," she said, looking down.

"What's done is done. Our group fell asleep too, and I take all the blame," I said. "Let's go to the last group and hope they did well."

The eight of us then quickly went to the clubhouse. The situation there was not any better, because we saw Blueberry, Apple, and Lemon being fast asleep in the clubhouse's bedroom. I also found Apricot being fast asleep on the tower. After waking them up, we all gathered in the main room.

"So, none of the groups made it?" Blueberry asked.

"Seems so," I said.

"Apple worry," Apple said.

"What we're gonna do now?" Angel asked.

All of us fell into a silence, having no idea about what to do, when suddenly something happened.

"Hi, everyone! I'm back!" a voice we all recognized as Strawberry greeted loudly. We looked upon the front door, and indeed it was Strawberry who came. She was still wearing the new outfit I had seen briefly at the previous day.

"My, oh my! It's our friend Strawberry Shortcake! How was your trip, huh Strawberry Shortcake? And how did you get this nice dress, huh Strawberry Shortcake?" Ginger asked.

"Yeah, Strawberry. How did you get that?" Angel asked, seeming relieved.

"Crepes Suzette made this for me! Isn't this berry nice?" Strawberry said.

"Yeah, it sure is," Angel said.

"Oh, and it's berry rare to see everyone here together. Is there a party here?" Strawberry asked. Nobody answered so there was a brief silence.

"Umm, yeah. There is," Peppermint said suddenly.

"Really? What party is it?" Strawberry asked.

"What else? A welcome back party for you!" Peppermint replied, which surprised Strawberry and everyone else quite a bit.

"Yeah... That's... right," Raspberry said.

"It is?" Lemon asked right before Raspberry quickly handgagged her mouth.

"Welcome back, Strawberry," I said.

"Oh, that's berry nice of you all. Thank you berry much, everyone!" Strawberry said.

So, the next few hours were spent having an 'Emergency Welcome Back Party' thanks to Peppermint's quick thinking. During the few hours everyone attacked Strawberry with questions on how her trip had been, and Strawberry answered them all with pleasure. During those few hours everyone learned about the things which had happened in Strawberry's trip to Pearis.

"By the way, how did you know that I was coming?" Strawberry asked.

"Well, looks like it's now my turn to tell tales," I said, then I told her about my trip to follow her along with Blueberry and Apple. From my tales she learned about Blackbird, how her balloon's sandbag almost had harmed someone, and also the existence of another new friend from Pearis.

"We saw your balloon leaving Chez Crepes, so I could estimate when you would arrive here," I said, ending my tale.

"Yeah, but he somewhat did a mistake. He said you would have arrived last midnight," Raspberry said.

"We waited all the night watching for you, worrying that you would fall asleep on the balloon and fly over Strawberryland," Huck said.

"Not really, though. We all fell asleep," Blueberry said.

"Well, actually..." Strawberry said. "Blackberry was berry right."

"Huh, what do you mean, Strawberry Shortcake?" Ginger asked.

"We arrived at midnight," Strawberry replied. "Custard and Pupcake fell asleep, but I didn't."

"You didn't?" Lemon said.

"If you didn't fall asleep, then..." Angel said.

"Then that means all our worries were for nothing. Hmph!" Peppermint said, looking at me.

I could feel that everyone's eyes were looking at me and Blueberry. Both of us had made them all worried so much that they were willing to abandon sleep, but it all had been for nothing. There was a silence for a few seconds, and then Strawberry spoke out.

"Thank you everyone..." Strawberry said, starting to leak tears smiling. "I'm... berry happy to know that you all cared so much for me."

"Uh... no, it was nothing," Huck said.

"Yeah, Strawberry. It was no problem for us," Orange said.

"Still, I'm berry grateful to you all," Strawberry said, then she yawned.

"Are you tired, Strawberry? You should rest now," I said.

"Yeah, I think I still could use some sleep after all my adventures," she said.

"You can use the bedroom here if you're too tired to walk home, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Don't worry. I can walk home," Strawberry said, walking to the front door. "See you later, everyone."

"Wait! Let me take you there," I said, following her and calling Falcon at the same time.

"Thank you, Blackberry," she said as Falcon came landing near us.

Both of us got onboard and then I piloted Falcon towards Strawberry's house. The trip only lasted a little over one minute so there was no conversation. After I had landed Falcon, Strawberry got off and went into her house waving her hand to me. I did the same to her and then I departed back to the clubhouse. After landing there, I got off and went inside. Everyone were still inside as I entered, and they all looked at me in silence.

"Okay, everyone. I'm sorry that I have made you all worried for nothing," I said.

"No, it was not for nothing," Orange said.

"Yeah, we've made Strawberry happy," Angel said.

"And it all thanks to you, Blackberry," Huck said, putting his hand on my shoulder. So, all ended well for that day.

At the next day, I decided to visit the clubhouse again after having breakfast because I wanted to compare the difference between the scenery on its tower and on my own rooftop, especially because I had never used the clubhouse's tower before. When I arrived there, Strawberry was there along with her pets and the other three main girls. They seemed to be making decorations.

"Hi, everyone," I greeted as I entered.

"Hi, Blackberry!" Strawberry greeted back.

"Is there going to be a party here?" I asked, looking at all the decorations they were making.

"Well, not really. You see, we don't know when and what time the friendship festival will take place, am I right? That's because we don't know when and what time the new friends will come, am I right again?" Ginger said.

"So, we're gonna prepare some early decorations for it," Angel said.

"I see. Anyway, I'm going to the tower for now, and after I'm done I will come down to help you," I said.

"Okay, Blackberry. Be careful there," Orange said.

I then climbed the stairset to the second floor. As I climbed the stairs, I still could hear Custard saying "This glue is so... sticky. How many decorations are we going to make, Strawberry?" but I didn't hear anything more after that because I was already too far from the bottom by then.

I arrived at the tower of the clubhouse, and I tried the telescope right away. The view was indeed enjoyable, but because the telescope was static I couldn't use it to take a look at the other way. Then I looked around without the telescope, and compared with the view on the rooftop of my house I personally preferred the view on the tower. Probably it was because of the clubhouse being placed on a hill, unlike my house which was located at a lowland. While enjoying the scenery, I noticed three butterfly letters coming to the clubhouse. They then entered the main room below and I didn't know what happened there next. I then went down the stairs to see if the butterfly letters were what I had thought of. As I arrived down, Angel Cake left the clubhouse.

"Where is she going?" I asked.

"The guests are coming, and Angel Cake going to make a friendship cake for the festival," Strawberry said.

"The guests? Who are they?" I asked.

"Crepes Suzette is one of them," she said.

"Then there's one with the name Frosty Puff. She's coming all the way from South Pole," Orange said.

"Also there's one coming from deep in a rain forest. Her name is Tangerina Torta," Ginger said.

"And also someone named Tea Blossom. She's coming from the whole other side of the planet," Strawberry said.

"Heh, so they are finally coming," I said.

"Huh? What do you mean, huh Blackberry Bun?" Ginger asked.

"Those three pictures on the wall are the ones you all just mentioned," I said, pointing at the three pictures at the wall Peppermint had drawn.

"Oh? I thought those are the pictures of imaginary friends put by someone," Orange said, looking at the pictures.

"Yeah, me too. Did you thought so too, huh Strawberry Shortcake?" Ginger asked.

"Well, I did," Strawberry said, pausing for a brief moment. "But sometimes I believed that they were true."

"They are, I met them while I was putting Blackbird into its first use," I said. "Peppermint was with me as well, and she made those pictures."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Orange asked.

"Well, I wanted to let it become a surprise," I said. "But I changed my mind just now."

"Well, okay. Anyway, we're done here so now we are going to my house to prepare there. Are you coming with us, Blackberry?" Strawberry asked.

"I think I will go to Angel Cake. Maybe she could use some help," I replied.

I then left the clubhouse first and walked towards Angel Cake's house. When I arrived there she seemed flustered. I could notice her having quite a bit of trouble looking at the mess in the kitchen.

"Hi there, Angel Cake," I greeted.

"Oh, hi, Blackberry," she greeted back.

"Do you need some help?" I asked.

"No, I can do it all by myself. No sweat!" she replied.

"No sweat, huh? No sugar, no flour, and no eggs as well I see," I said, looking at the empty bowls and shelves in her kitchen.

"Well, okay. Actually I kinda need some help," She said timidly. "But I told them I could do this alone."

"Alright. I'll give you the ingredients you need. I still have plenty in my kitchen and I'm not going to use them anytime soon anyway," I offered.

"Thanks, Blackberry," she said.

"I'm going home to take them first. I think you should go to Strawberry's house and tell your friends that you need some help," I said.

"Well, I..." she said, looking down.

"It's your call. Anyway, see you soon," I said, leaving her house.

I then walked to my house to take all the ingredients I had there. Once I arrived there I put them all, along with my kitchen utensils, in my backpack and went back to Angel Cake's house using Blackbird. When I arrived there she was nowhere to be found, but soon I saw her coming along with Tangerina Torta.

"Tangerina Torta! How have you been?" I greeted.

"Hiya, Blackberry Bun!" she replied in excitement.

"Huh? You know each other already?" Angel asked, wondering.

"Yes, we met one week ago," I answered. "Anyway, I have the ingredients for you,"

"Thank you, Blackberry," she said.

The three of us then went inside the house. After Angel Cake showed the room for her guest, Tangerina stayed there to unpack her bag while Angel Cake and me went to the kitchen. I took all the ingredients and utensils from my backpack and put them on the table there.

"What are these?" Angel asked, looking at the utensils. "I already have those of my own."

"If you like, you can use them. They can do their job faster than any other utensils of the same kind," I said. "I made them all myself. Just be careful not to..."

"Blackberry, you have been helping me alot," she interrupted, pausing for a moment. "But no, thanks. I'm gonna make the cakes with my own utensils."

"Okay, but I'll leave them here in case you change your mind," I said. "See you later."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Pearis. I don't want her to miss this," I replied, which she understood clearly.

After leaving Angel Cake's house, I got on Blackbird and ordered it to go to Pearis. With the usual keyword, Blackbird departed to Pearis. 30 minutes later I arrived in Pearis and landed on the usual lake. It seemed that the people had gotten used to Blackbird because nobody stopped to stare at me anymore. I then walked towards Cherry's house hoping that she would be there so I could just take her to Strawberryland without having to look for her first. Once I arrived there I took Speak All from my backpack and put it on my head, then I knocked on the door.

"Blackberry!" A voice I recognized as Cherry called from behind.

"Cherry!" I said as I turned around and approached her. "How have you been?"

"Cherry fine," she answered. "Where other friends?"

"They are all in Strawberryland. Would you like to come there?" I said. "There will be a friendship festival there."

"Friendship festival?" she asked.

"There are lots of new friends you have never seen before," I said.

"More friends?" she asked.

"Yes. So, would you like to come?" I asked.

"Cherry come!" she said in excitement.

So, everything was settled and the two of us departed to Strawberryland. The flight went without any trouble and we arrived 30 minutes later. However, as I piloted Blackbird over Angel Cake's house, I saw that the house and the ground in front of it had been flooded with doughs. I then landed Blackbird on nearby clean ground and got off along with Cherry, whom I had given Speak All to. We then approached the group who were standing near the edge of dough flood.

"What happened here?" I asked.

"Well, I had a big little accident," Angel replied.

"How accident?" Cherry asked.

"Well, I had to start over because of another little accident. I ran outta time so I used the things Blackberry had lend to me," Angel said.

"And you used them all in maximum power I guess?" I said, and she nodded with guilty feeling. "Yeah, that was the thing I wanted to tell you. Maximum power can cause something like this."

I didn't know what to say next because I was probably the one to blame as well for not properly warning Angel Cake. There was a silence for a few seconds, then I remembered something.

"By the way, where's Strawberry?" I asked.

"Well, she got really depressed and told us to call the festival off, then she left us. I sure could feel that she was really sad, right everyone? So what should we do now, huh everyone?" Ginger said.

"Yeah, maybe zee iz crying now in 'er 'ouse," Crepes said.

"Maybe we should go to her and cheer her up," Frosty said.

"But what about the festival? Is it really cancelled?" Tangerina asked.

"No, it is not and it will not be," I said. "Let's clean all these up and make the cake again, all together this time."

"You're right, Blackberry. Nothing will stop us, nope, not ever will!" Ginger said.

"But what about Strawberry?" Orange asked.

"I will go. It was my fault anyway for not being honest from the start," Angel said, taking her apron and chef hat off. Then she walked away leaving the rest of the group to do all the cleaning up. It was not that difficult, though. With everyone working together, and also with the help of Ginger's cleaning machine, the cleaning up only took less than one hour. Angel Cake returned right at the time we were done.

"Wow, you all have cleaned my house so fast. Thank you berry much!" she said.

"It was no problem. Nope, not at all!" Ginger said.

"Anyway, how's Strawberry?" I asked.

"She's fine. She will come with Tea Blossom soon, and then we can start making the friendship cake together," Angel replied.

"That's good to hear. I will get other friends to come here in the meantime," I said.

"Cherry go with Blackberry?" Cherry asked, pulling my shirt.

"Okay if you want to," I replied. "Shall we go now?"

"We go," Cherry said.

Then, the two of us left Angel Cake's house to invite the remaining friends who were yet to come. To be exact, they were Huck, Blueberry, Raspberry, Lemon, Apricot, Rainbow, and Peppermint. We walked to their homes and asked them to come with us to the festival, and all of them agreed with pleasure. As the nine of us arrived at Strawberry's house, where the festival was supposed to be held, we saw that they had finished making the friendship cake. So, all of us approached them and let the wonderful fun time to start.

-End of Chapter 25-

Referenced episode: A Festival of friends. The second episode of World of Friends DVD. The episode is also known as The Great Friendship Festival

Additional note: For those who have watched both episodes from World of Friends DVD, the recent chapters portray the chronology between the two episodes as "Second episode from start until throwing butterfly letters scene - First episode from start to end - Second episode from right after the butterfly letters scene until end"


	30. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Prologue to The Untold

One week had passed after the friendship festival. All of the new friends had returned to their homes, and life continued without anything so special. I hadn't made any more new devices because I had no new idea, so over the one week I only walked around visiting friends from time to time. Sometimes I remembered the day one year before, when I still had no friends at all. I didn't know what I would have done without them. Thanks to them I had completely removed my inconfidence and had started to go out more. I could imagine me not being my current self if I hadn't met them.

After having lunch on that day, I decided to give Strawberry a visit because I hadn't seen her in the last four days. I walked to her house, but only to find that she was not at home. I didn't know what had happened, but I noticed that the ripe berries on her garden were all over the ground like if someone had thrown them around. Looking at the mess I decided to pick all the berries up and put them on a basket I found nearby. After I was done, I decided to visit Angel Cake so I walked to Cakewalk. Once I arrived there I knocked on the door and she opened it.

"Hello, Blackberry," she greeted. "Please come in!"

"Hi there, Angel," I greeted back. "What are you doing right now?"

"Not much," she replied.

"Same here. That's why I walked around visiting here and there," I said. "By the way, Strawberry is not home. Do you know where she might be going?"

"She went to Seaberry Shore three days ago with Rainbow," she answered. "She said Coco Calypso needed some help."

"And let me guess... she left her sister again, right?" I said.

"Well, that's not exactly right," she said. "Apple didn't want to go with her. I don't know why, though."

"Oh, really?" I remarked. "Who is taking care of Apple now?"

"Orange Blossom. Custard and Pupcake are there as well," she replied.

"Hmm... I feel like visiting them there. Do you want to come with me?" I said.

"Why not?" she replied, and the two of us walked to Orange Blossom Acres.

When we arrived there, we climbed the stairset to her house and knocked on the door. Orange opened it soon after, but she put her pointer finger in front of her lip and pointed inward. From the door we saw Apple sleeping on the sofa along with Strawberry's two pets.

"Nap time I see," I said with low voice.

"We can talk outside," Orange said, slowly closing the door from the outside.

"I just wonder why she didn't want to go with Strawberry this time. Has she said anything like that?" I asked.

"No, she has not said anything about that. But maybe it's because she has been there a few times," she answered.

"I see. Then there will be no problem," I said.

Soon after, I left the place with Angel Cake to let the three of them to have their rest. I then separated ways with Angel Cake and went to my home. On the way I kept thinking about Seaberry Shore, especially the sea. I hadn't ever thought about going underwater before, and I was sure the sea had many wonderful things to see. With that in mind, I decided to modify Falcon's engine so it would be able to run underwater like a submarine as well. Once I arrived home I put the thoughts into realization over the next four hours. As the result, Falcon could then run underwater although the speed would be very slow while underwater. The modification also reduced its flight speed by around one quarter, but it didn't really matter for me.

After the work was done, I immediately flew Falcon towards Seaberry Shore. On the way I thought of visiting Coco Calypso first before going under the sea, so I decided to land near her house first. Once I arrived I noticed Rainbow Sherbet's boat docked near one field of sand, and then I landed on that field of sand. I got off and walked towards Coco's house, then I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I then thought that they could be at the beach, so I walked there. However, when I got close to a large stone, I heard something from behind it.

"Where are you two going?" a voice I recognized as Coco asked.

"Just a little something we need to do," a voice I recognized as Blueberry said.

"Together," a voice I recognized as Rainbow said. Then there was a silence for a few seconds.

"Seaberry, the legend didn't end there, right?" a voice I recognized as Strawberry said.

"Heh, yeah. It was actually just the beginning of something horrible which happened next," a voice I had never heard before replied. "I wish I didn't know about that part..."

"How did you know, Strawberry?" Coco asked.

"The way Seaberry told us the legend," Strawberry replied. "It seemed that she was hiding something. But let's not mind about that."

"Yeah, some things are better left unknown," Seaberry said.

"Let's join our friends," Coco said, then I heard footsteps fading away.

I then walked to follow the footsteps towards the beach, and once I arrived at the beach I saw five girls in swimsuits on a distance. I could recognize four of them as my friends, but I had never seen the last one. I then thought that she must have been who they had called Seaberry. I then decided to wait near Coco's house until they returned, so I walked back.

Around half an hour later, while sitting on a rock, from a distance I noticed the girls returning from the beach, and they were already in their regular outfit. They seemed to notice me because they waved their hands to me.

"Hi, Blackberry! When did you come here?" Strawberry shouted.

"Not long ago!" I replied, approaching them.

"Too bad. If you have come earlier you would have heard Seaberry's story," Coco said.

"Yeah, it was absoloo-tely the best story I have ever heard!" Blueberry said.

"It's fine. By the way, I see someone I don't know yet here," I said, looking at the new girl.

"I'm Seaberry Delight. Nice to meet you," she said.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Blackberry Bun," I said.

"By the way, Blackberry. We are leaving for home now. I'm berry sorry that we cannot stay here for longer," Strawberry said. "I wish we could, but I'm starting to worry about Custard, Pupcake, and Apple Dumplin'"

"And I'm now absoloo-tely worried about Cheesecake," Blueberry said.

"I see. I guess I will stay for a little while longer. That is, if nobody minds," I said.

"Why should I? You can stay as long as you like!" Coco said.

Later, Strawberry along with Blueberry and Rainbow left Seaberry Shore. The sun was already setting so there was no point in going under the sea because there would be nothing to see because of the darkness. I, with Coco and Seaberry, then had dinner of seaberry treats while Seaberry repeated the story she had told to the others for me. Indeed she told me the story in a way that she seemed to be hiding something.

"Thanks for repeating the story for me, Seaberry. It is really a nice story," I said after she finished. It was already dark by then.

"It's not a problem," she replied. "Oh, I think it's time for me to go home."

"Where do you live?" I asked.

"Under the sea. You have to swim if you want to visit my house," she said.

"Under the sea...? I kinda don't get it," I said, wondering.

"There's a cave which leads to my house under the sea," she replied.

"Oh, okay. Now I understand. But... can you see clearly underwater? Especially in this darkness?" I asked.

"Everyone can, right?" she asked back.

"No, I can't see well underwater, let alone without sunlight," I replied.

"I can't too. You're the only one who can I think," Coco said.

"Oh..." she said, lowering her head. "So I'm the only one... different?"

"Ah, never mind that. Different or not, we are and will always be friends," I said, which seemed to cheer her up again.

"That's right, Seaberry. We'll always be friends no matter what," Coco said.

"Thanks," Seaberry said. "I guess I will take my leave now. See you tomorrow."

"Could you come again tomorrow? I'd like to visit your house tomorrow," I said.

"Even if you didn't ask, I sure will," she replied, and then she left the place swimming.

That night, I stayed in Coco's house. Because she didn't have any extra bed I my only option was to sleep on her sofa like the last time I had been there. Even though of that, the bamboo sofa felt comfortable. At the next day, Seaberry came as promised and then the three of us agreed to go to her house together.

"But... how to get there?" Coco asked. "I can't see much underwater."

"You remember my flying car, don't you Coco?" I said. "It now can dive underwater as well, so we can use it to get there."

"Oh, that's really good to hear! Where is it?" Coco asked, and then I took Falcon's remote from my pocket and pressed one button to reveal it from its invisibility.

"Right there. Let's go in," I said, walking towards Falcon. The two girls followed me as well.

After all of us had gotten onboard and put the seatbelts on, I flew Falcon to fly over the sea for a few distances away from the beach. After that I slowly landed on the water surface and switched it to underwater mode.

"This is the first time I go underwater. Is it going to be safe?" Coco asked.

"It will be. Just relax and enjoy the ride," I replied.

"Okay if you say so," she said.

I then piloted Falcon to dive underwater, and it slowly sank into the sea. The next thing we saw was the beautiful underwater scenery of corals, many kinds of plants, and animals. The thing that attracted me the most was a group of fishes which looked very cute and beautiful.

"Those fishes are very beautiful," I said.

"Yeah, they are so cute," Coco said.

"Those are the sea sweeties I have told you about," Seaberry said.

"I see. So, where's your house?" I asked.

"Let's see..." she replied, looking around. "Ah, it's there, on the right. See that cave?"

"Ah, okay. Let's go there," I said, piloting Falcon towards the cave Seaberry had just mentioned.

"Is the cave large enough for this car to enter?" Coco asked, looking at how small the cave entrance was.

"We won't know until we try," I said, attempting to enter the cave.

Squeezing through the cave was apparently not as difficult as I had thought. Soon after, Falcon resurfaced from the water and a house with the shape of a giant seashell was the first thing we saw.

"That's your house?" I asked.

"I have never said it wasn't," Seaberry replied.

"What a beautiful house," Coco commented.

"Thanks," Seaberry said.

The three of us then got off from Falcon and walked to the house. At the inside, we saw that all the furniture there was made from seashells. The space inside was not that large, but it was comfortable enough for all of us.

"Your house sure is nice," Coco said as we all sat down on the chairs in Seaberry's living room.

"Thanks. Would you like something to drink?" Seaberry offered.

"No, thanks. I will save it for later," I kindly refused.

"Me too," Coco added.

"Okay then, now that we are all here, what are we going to do?" Seaberry asked.

"Well, you see, that legend..." I said a little bit timidly. "It doesn't end there, right?"

"Oh, you realized it too..." she said.

"Yeah, and now I want to know the missing part," I said.

"Well, I actually don't want to tell anyone else about that part," she said, lowering her head.

"Oh, too bad..." I said. I didn't insist because I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"But, if you really want to know it, I can show you," she said, which surprised me a bit.

"You said show?" I asked.

"Wait a moment," she said, standing up. She then left us and came back a few minutes later bringing a book.

"What is this book?" I asked.

"This book is the one which told me about the legend, and the untold part as well," she said, giving it to me. "You can have it."

"For me? Really?" I asked.

"I have done reading it, so it's better to give it to someone else rather than having it to collect dust," she said.

"Thank you very much," I said.

The next few hours were spent talking together and then enjoying underwater sceneries with Falcon. After we were done, with proper goodbye I left Coco and Seaberry at Coco's house. It only took a few minutes until I arrived at my house again. Once I got in my bedroom I immediately started reading the book Seaberry had given to me. I quickly read through the parts I had already known from Seaberry, and then I got to the untold part...

-End of Chapter 26-

Referenced episode: Legend of Lost Treasure. The second episode of Seaberry Beach Party DVD.


	31. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The Untold Legend of The Lost Treasure

As the five mermaids left the sea serpent and her group, a shadowy creature secretly watched them from high above. Nobody seemed to realize the presence of the creature as it slowly descended down to the latter group.

"I should have realized it from the beginning..." the creature said with low voice. It continued to come closer to the group, and the sea serpent turned her head.

"Oh, you! No, don't come here! Please don't!" the serpent said with fear. The fishes around her also became afraid that all of them ran away leaving her alone.

"You know what you will get for getting in the way of my ambition..." the creature said, coming closer to the serpent.

"NO...!" the serpent screamed in agony, but there was nobody to hear it.

At a quite far distance, the group of five mermaids were swimming together in joy of having successfully reunited as friends they had been before. Because the day almost ended, they intended to go back to their homes and sleep. However, suddenly Strawberry stopped and looked back.

"What't the matter, Strawberry?" Coco asked.

"I don't know. I felt like I heard a scream," Strawberry replied.

"I didn't hear anything," Rainbow said.

"Me too," Seaberry said.

"Absoloo-tely nothing at all," Blueberry said.

"Maybe you just imagined it?" Coco said.

"Yeah, maybe it was just my imagination..." Strawberry said.

The group then continued to swim, but that didn't last long because suddenly a big red fish they recognized as one of the sea serpent's underlings came to their front and stopped them. Its face showed great fear.

"What happened?" Seaberry asked the fish, then the fish replied in a language only she could understood. After hearing those, Seaberry got surprised and started to leak tears as the fish left the group.

"What did he say?" Strawberry said.

"No... That can't be..." Seaberry said, lowering her head.

"What happened?" Coco asked.

"Something really bad?" Rainbow asked.

"We won't know if you don't tell us," Blueberry said.

"The sea serpent..." Seaberry said, pausing for a moment. "She died..."

"What?! How could that happened? We just left her a few minutes ago and she was just fine!" Coco asked in surprise as the rest became as surprised as her.

"Just after we left her, she got attacked by a sea gorgon," Seaberry replied.

"Sea gorgon?" Strawberry asked.

"I thought sea gorgon is just a legend," Blueberry said.

"You know about it?" Coco asked.

"Yeah, a sea gorgon is a horrible creature. It looks just like us mermaids, but the lower part of the body is more like a snake. Snakes cover its head like hair, and any creature who looks at its eyes will become stone," Blueberry replied.

"How horrible..." Coco said.

"Let's go back and help," Strawberry said.

"No! We have no chance at all against a horrible creature like that!" Rainbow said.

"Yeah, and he told us those because he didn't want us to come back there only to run into trouble!" Seaberry said.

"We can try to do something or go home and wait until the sea gorgon come into our home. What's your choice?" Strawberry said.

The last sentence Strawberry had said seemed to struck the other mermaids right into their heart. They fell into complete silence for a few moments until Rainbow spoke out.

"You're right, Strawberry. Let's go back there," Rainbow said.

"Yeah, count me in too," Coco said. Blueberry and Seaberry stayed in silence.

"How about the others?" Strawberry asked, looking at the two.

"Well..." Blueberry said, pausing for a moment. "I'd like to see a living legend for once. I'll go with you."

"I..." Seaberry said, pausing briefly. "I'll go too. You were right, Strawberry."

After everything had been settled, the five mermaids went back to the place where they had left the sea serpent. Once they arrived there, they saw a shattered stone statue of the sea serpent on open field. The face part of the statue showed a sign of great fear.

"No... Why should this happen to you...?" Strawberry said, leaking tears.

"Blueberry, do you know any way to get her back?" Coco asked.

"Well..." Blueberry replied, pausing briefly. "The only way to dispel it is by killing the sea gorgon. However, the statue has been destroyed so it will be of no use..."

"Indeed..." suddenly a heavy voice said from behind the mermaids. "Killing me is the only way to dispel my stone gaze, but that will never happen!" the voice continued, followed by an evil laughter.

"Oh no! Run away and don't look back!" Blueberry shouted, and all the mermaids did what she had told them. However, some snakes from the sea gorgon's hair quickly elongated and bound the tail of all the mermaids. Then they were dragged closer to the sea gorgon. They covered their eyes with their hands to prevent themselves from being turned into stone, but they knew that the situation was hopeless.

"Relax, little mermaids. I won't turn you into stone just yet," the sea gorgon said.

"What do you want from us?" Coco asked, still covering her eyes.

"The Lost Treasure. That's what I want," the sea gorgon answered. "By the way, can't you just look at me?! You all are covering your eyes and I take that as an insult!"

"But we will turn into stone if we don't do this," Rainbow said, still covering her eyes.

"Heh, that will happen only if I use my stone gaze, which I don't right now. Now open your eyes and see me! Or, would you rather being eaten by my snakes instead?" the sea gorgon threatened.

All mermaids took the message and slowly opened their eyes. Then they looked towards the sea gorgon. The size of the sea gorgon was quite larger than the sea serpent, and indeed its traits followed the description Blueberry had said. They looked at the sea gorgon's face, which was like a beautiful lady. But the beauty on her face was defeated by her pale blue skin, snakes on her head, and the gaze of her eyes which felt very evil. None of the mermaids were turned into stone after looking at her eyes so they knew that the sea gorgon hadn't lied about her ability.

"You said The Lost Treasure? Those sand dollar coins?" Blueberry asked.

"Not exactly, dear. The real Lost Treasure is more than just those silly gold coins. But indeed for now I want you all to gather those gold coins right here," the sea gorgon said.

"But most of them were lost in a sea quake," Seaberry said.

"I know. That's why I want you to work hard for me and gather EVERY SINGLE piece of the remaining ones!" the sea gorgon said, followed by her evil laughter.

And so, all the five mermaids were forced to gather the remaining pieces of gold coins. Some snakes from the sea gorgon's head had been separated from the sea gorgon to watch over the mermaids. As the five mermaids gathered the gold, the snakes swam around the area while occasionally gazing at the mermaids.

"Now we're back into this situation. Only that now the watchers are snakes," Blueberry said.

"And it all thanks to someone who somehow convinced us to run into this trouble," Rainbow said with upset face.

Strawberry heard what they had said, but she kept herself silent. While still gathering the gold, she kept thinking of a plan to defeat the sea gorgon. Everytime she picked up a gold coin, she saw a reflection of herself and that gave her an idea. However, she still couldn't think of a good way to pull it off so she kept silent and continued working.

The work took three days until all the remaining gold coins were gathered in front of the sea gorgon. During those three days the mermaids were only allowed for little rest, so they were quite exhausted. As the mermaids brought the treasure chest taken from the castle where the sea serpent kept her last gold, the sea gorgon waited with evil smile on her face.

"Here it is. The last of the gold," Coco said as they came close to the sea gorgon and put the chest on the pile of gold in front of her.

"Well done, my dears. Now that you have completed your work, I no longer have any need on you," the sea gorgon said, then the five watch snakes quickly bound them. Their hands were still free, but they couldn't move away from their position.

"What are you going to do to us?" Seaberry asked.

"I will just turn you into stone with my stone gaze!" the sea gorgon said. "However, I'm not someone without gratitude. I will let you see the real Lost Treasure before turning you all into stone," she continued, followed by her evil laughter.

After finishing her laughter, the sea gorgon started to concentrate with her hands put towards the pile of gold. The snakes on her head seemed to understand what she was doing, and they all gazed at the gold. There was a silence for the next few seconds, and then the gorgon's hands started to shine. The pile of gold also started to shine brighter than before. The sea gorgon then slowly lifted her hands, and then the mermaids saw that slowly the light of the gold started to separate from the coins. One minute later the golden light was completely separated from the pile of gold coins, which have lost their golden color and looked more like they were made from sand.

"This is much less than I expected, but it should be still enough," the sea gorgon said, looking at the golden light. Then, she concentrated once more and the golden light started to shrink. It kept shrinking until it finally disappeared, leaving an object behind which looked like a small crystal with gold color. The sea gorgon then took the crystal with smile of satisfaction.

"Is that the real Lost Treasure?" Blueberry asked.

"That tiny crystal?" Rainbow said.

"Indeed, my dears. This crystal contains incredible magical power. With this power the world will be mine!" the sea gorgon said, followed by her evil laughter.

"We're done for..." Coco said.

"Now I will start by turning you all into stone," the sea gorgon said, looking at the five mermaids. Then she closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. Lights came out from her eyes towards the five mermaids.

"Goodbye, dears!" she said, but she was not aware that while her eyes had been closed the mermaids took a gold coin which they had been hiding in their dress and held the coins towards the sea gorgon. All of the mermaids ended up petrified along with the coin each of them held, but the coins managed to reflect some light back to the sea gorgon.

"No! Curse you, mermaids!" the sea gorgon shouted as her body slowly turned into stone. "You have ruined my ambition! That's it! I will put my final curse into all of you! You all will remain as stone forever even after I die!"

After saying those, the sea gorgon casted her magic upon the five stone statues. Right after finishing the magic, the sea gorgon screamed in agony and her body completely turned into stone. Its petrified body then fell to the side and hit a rock, resulting it being shattered into pieces. The snake which bound the statues of the mermaids disintegrated into sand, and then the statues fell into the ground still intact.

Not long after, a lot of fishes including the sea serpent's underlings came. After realizing what had happened, they all mourned over the mermaid statues.

After all were done mourning, it was decided that the five statues of the mermaids would be preserved on the spot as memorials. For evermore, all sea dwellers would never forget the sacrifice of the mermaids.

-The End-

After I finished reading the untold part, I began to understand why Seaberry didn't want to tell that untold part. Even though it was quite a happy ending in general, for the five main characters the ending was not happy at all because they had ended up stuck in stone forever. Not to mention that the sea serpent had died just after reforming. I then realized that it was already over bedtime after I had finished reading the book. I then put the book into my bookshelf and went to sleep.

At the next day I decided to visit Seaberry at her house to talk a little bit about that legend. So, after having breakfast I immediately got onboard Falcon and flew it towards Seaberry Shore. Once I arrived there I switched Falcon into underwater mode and let it slowly descend down into the water. After I was completely underwater I piloted Falcon towards the cave where Seaberry's house was located. However, on the way I noticed Seaberry feeding seaberries to sea sweeties. She also noticed me, so with my hand movements I told her about visiting her house. She seemed to understand it perfectly and began to swim towards the cave. While on the way I wondered how Seaberry could hold her breath that long, but I decided to put that aside.

Soon after, both of us arrived right inside the cave. Seaberry welcomed me warmly and then we entered the house.

"So, what happened that you came here?" she asked.

"Well, I have read the whole book," I replied. "And now I understand why you didn't want to tell the untold part."

After I had said those, there was a few seconds of silence and Seaberry lowered her head.

"Is there something wrong? I mean, it's just a... legend, right?" I asked.

"Actually, there is something more to the legend," she said.

"Huh? What is it?" I asked.

"Come with me. I will show you," she said, walking away.

I then followed Seaberry outside her house. She then walked to the stairs behind her house which I had actually been wondering about but I had forgotten to ask. Both of us then climbed the stairs for a few minutes until we reached a door at the end of the path. The door had no handle, keyhole, or such, but I noticed an insertion at its center which looked like a group of sea shells. Seaberry then took her hair ornament and put it into the insertion. The hair ornament perfectly matched the shape of the insertion, and then the door opened inwards. Seaberry then took her hair ornament back from the door.

"Come inside," she said, putting her hair ornament back on her head.

I then entered the room behind the door, which seemed not so spacious at the first sight. However, I couldn't believe what I saw next. In that room I saw statues of five mermaids put in line, and all of them looked exactly like the friends I knew. Their positions were also the same as described in the legend: holding a stone sand dollar in front.

"The... mermaids? So that means..." I said, looking at Seaberry.

"I found these statues while swimming around, and I brought them here into my storage room with the help of my fish friends. And yeah, the legend is true," Seaberry said.

I then observed all the statues of the mermaids. All of them had petrified tears on their cheeks, and I could feel their deep sorrows and frights. Looking at all those made me feel very bad about them.

"Is there any way, to get them back?" I asked.

"You know it yourself, Blackberry. The curse will stay forever and nobody can change that," she replied. I then began thinking for a while until an unsure idea came to my mind.

"The crystal," I said. "The crystal has an enormous magical power. Maybe, just maybe, it can dispel the curse."

"You mean the Lost Treasure?" Seaberry asked. "But Blackberry, that crystal has been lost for long. There's no way we can find it again."

"I know. But still..." I said, looking at the five statues. "I wish I could do anything to get them back. They didn't do anything to deserve something like this..."

As I said those, I started to leak tears. I then wiped them immediately because it felt embarassing for a boy like me to cry.

"Ah, sorry. I don't know why I became a crybaby just now," I said.

"Blackberry..." Seaberry said, pausing for a moment. "Actually, there is something that might work."

"Huh? What is it?" I asked.

Seaberry then took her hair ornament off from her head. Then, she took something from the inside of one of the sea shells. It was an oval teal stone which emitted light of the same color.

"This is Cerulean Lapis, a magical stone. Of course this is not as powerful as the Lost Treasure, but this might still be able to dispel the curse," she said.

"You have something like that? Why didn't you use it from the beginning?" I asked.

"I believe you remember about what you asked two days ago, right?" she asked back. "About my differences."

"I remember of course," I replied, then I realized something. "Hey, did you mean...?"

"Yeah, by having this stone in my hair ornament, I can see well underwater, and I even can breathe underwater," she said, lowering her head. "If I use this to free them, it probably will vanish and I will not be able to see my fish friends. I even won't be able to leave this cave..."

"Oh..." I said, running out of words. There was a silence for the next few seconds.

"But... now I realize that it was just a selfish reason. They sacrificed themselves for others, why shouldn't I sacrifice this little stone for them?" she said, looking at the Cerulean Lapis.

"Seaberry..." I said, and suddenly the Cerulean Lapis shined its teal light brighter than before. It then floated away from Seaberry's hands towards the five statues.

"What happened?" I asked, moving away from the statues.

"I don't know. I have no idea," she replied.

After the Cerulean Lapis had been right in front of the five statues, it shined even brighter that our eyes were blinded by its light. We could barely see anything under the blinding light, but we still could see that it started to crack and the crack quickly spread all over the small stone. Soon, the Cerulean Lapis shattered, but the next thing we saw was a shining gold crystal revealed under the shattered stone.

"A gold crystal...?" I said. "Don't tell me it's..."

"That can't be... the Lost Treasure? I have been carrying it all this time?" Seaberry said.

While we were still wondering, the gold crystal floated closer to the five mermaids and shined even brighter to the point that we had to cover our eyes with our hands. That kept going for the next few seconds until we felt that the light had faded slightly. We then opened our eyes only to see that the five statues had disappeared while the crystal was still there. The crystal then floated out from the storage room.

"Let's follow it," I said, running towards the door. Seaberry soon followed.

Both of us followed the shining crystal all the way to the water surface where I had parked Falcon. The crystal stopped above the water surface and then it once again shined so bright that we had to cover our eyes again. Once the light slightly faded, we opened our eyes and saw the five mermaids on the water surface, de-petrified, alive, and well. The crystal then slowly floated back to Seaberry's hands and completely faded its light.

"We're... back?" mermaid Blueberry asked, looking around her body.

"It seems so," mermaid Rainbow said.

"The sea gorgon's curse has been dispelled?" mermaid Coco asked.

"So that's the power of the Lost Treasure..." mermaid Seaberry said.

"Thank you berry much for bringing us back!" mermaid Strawberry said to us.

"No, it wasn't us. It was this crystal all by itself," Seaberry replied.

"We didn't do anything at all," I said.

"But still, we are grateful to be back," mermaid Blueberry said.

"Come play with us sometime," mermaid Coco said.

"I'd be happy to," Seaberry said, pausing for a moment. "Although, I don't know if I can," she continued, looking at the crystal in her hands which had almost completely lost its light.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" mermaid Strawberry asked, then Seaberry answered by telling about how the Lost Treasure, which somehow had been disguised as Cerulean Lapis, had enabled her to see and breathe underwater.

"Now that it almost lost its power, I don't know if I can do that anymore," she ended her speech.

"Hmm..." mermaid Strawberry said, thinking for a moment. "Maybe this can work," she continued, showing a golden sand dollar she had been holding.

"Oh, a golden sand dollar! That seems worth a try," I said.

"Let's try it then," Seaberry said.

All the mermaids then gave their golden sand dollar to me. I then held the five coins close to the crystal in Seaberry's hands. At first nothing happened, but slowly I noticed that the crystal started to absorb the gold color from the coins. Soon, the gold color was completely removed from the coins leaving them to become regular sand dollar, while the crystal started to shine and float from Seaberry's hands. There was a short moment of blinding lights, and when we regained our vision we noticed that the Lost Treasure had once again become a Cerulean Lapis.

"Oh, my Cerulean Lapis!" Seaberry said in excitement. The stone then floated back into Seaberry's hands and she put it into her hair ornament. Then she jumped down into the water and came back a few seconds later. "It works! Thank you very much!"

"I'm berry happy for you," mermaid Strawbery said.

Later, the five mermaids left the place to start their new life. I was glad that all had ended well for everyone. The mermaids had been given a second life while Seaberry hadn't lost her precious magic stone. Because there was nothing more to do, I decided to go home. After saying goodbye to Seaberry, I got on Falcon and departed back to Blackberry Bushes, my home sweet home.

Although, I still felt sorry for the sea serpent who died just after reforming...

-End of Chapter 27-

Referenced episode: Legend of Lost Treasure. The second episode of Seaberry Beach Party DVD.

Additional note: The name of Seaberry's magic stone is a homage to Valkyrie Profile PS1 game.


	32. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Competition

Just two days after reviving the mermaids, someone came to my house while I was in the middle of making a new device. I opened the door and it turned out that the guest was Strawberry.

"Oh, hi Strawberry," I greeted, going down the ladder. "What's up?"

"Hi, Blackberry. Would you come to the Annual Nearly Twice A Yearly Strawberryland Pet Show tomorrow?" she asked.

"Umm, what...? Annual Nearly Twice A Yearly Strawberryland what...?" I asked, confused by the long name of the event.

"Pet show," she replied. "There will be berry much fun there!"

"But Strawberry, you know that I can't come. I don't have a pet," I said.

"You don't need to have one to come. Everyone's invited!" she said.

"Oh, what things will happen in this pet show?" I asked.

"Well, many things! Just come and join the fun!" she said in excitement.

"If you say so, I will be there with pleasure," I said.

"Great! See you tomorrow, then!" she said. "I'm going to invite other frinds."

"Okay, see you tomorrow," I said, and she left my place.

After she had left, I went back to my working table and continued my work. While working I kept thinking about the same event which had happened one year before. That event hadn't gone smoothly because of Peppermint's cheating spree on all other pets. However, I was sure that Peppermint had learned the lesson and I also hoped that this next event would be better than before. Then again, I thought about myself not being able to participate because of one simple reason. Other kids somehow had their pets without remembering how they had first met, with the exception of Strawberry's Pupcake. On the other hand, I didn't have any pet at all since the beginning. While all the questions were occupying my head, suddenly I heard something entering one window of my house.

"Huh? Who's there?" I asked, looking towards the window. I could see a shadow of a bird there.

"It's me, kid. Don't you remember me?" a voice asked back.

"Raven? It's been quite long. How do you do?" I said as he approached me.

"I'm all fine. Although, lately I feel kind of lonely. Everywhere I turn only fillies and nothing else!" he replied. "That's why I decided to come here and give a visit to one or two kids. Or maybe ten, but whatever."

"You miss your boss?" I asked out of curiosity.

"No way! He never cared about me! I remember nothing good about him! There's no way I will miss him ever!" he replied.

"I see," I said.

"By the way, you look troubled, kid. What's the matter?" he asked.

"Oh, so you noticed it," I said, then I told him about the pet show.

"I see. Okay, I will be your pet then," he said.

"Huh? Are my ears playing tricks to me?" I said, not believing what I had just heard.

"No, kid. I mean it," he said. "But only for that one day. After that, it's all over."

"Thanks! You have my gratitude!" I said. "But, what will you do there?"

"It doesn't matter, right? The show is only for fun anyway," he answered.

"Yeah, but we can't come with nothing at all to show," I said. "Do you have any special thing you can do?"

"Hmm..." he said, thinking. "I think I know something."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Just wait and see, kid. But don't expect much," he said, starting to fly away out of the window he had entered. "See you tomorrow!"

"Okay, I'll be waiting!" I shouted at him from the window.

After he had gone away, I continued my work and later I finished the new device. It was not really a new device, though. What I had just done was modifying my watch so it could function as a flashlight as well. After trying it for a while in my house, I decided to call it a day for making devices and went out to walk around. My first visit was Raspberry's house, and when I arrived she was playing ball on her own. Without noticing me coming, she kicked the ball high upwards and then she jumped to attempt an overhead kick. However, her kick didn't hit the ball perfectly, resulting the ball flying slowly towards me. I caught the ball easily as she landed on the ground.

"Nice try, Raspberry," I said, approaching her.

"Oh, hi Blackberry," she greeted. "No, it's not nice. I missed."

"I won't be able to do something like that. It's a nice try if you ask me," I complimented.

"Don't flatter me. I know someone who can do much better," she said. "She can jump on a fence, do the same thing as I just did, and land on the same fence."

"Wow, who is this amazing one?" I asked, wondering.

"Orange Blossom," she replied, which was quite surprising for me. "Oh, and she can do a handstand with one hand, on a fence."

"Okay, that's... surprising," I said. "By the way, are you coming to the Annual Yearly Nearly... wait, what was it?" I said, forgetting the event's name.

"That pet show, right? I sure will," she said. "I will come with my Rhubarb."

"What will your raccoon do there if I may ask?" I asked.

"Just wait and see," she replied.

Later, I visited some other friends and their answers were pretty much the same with Raspberry. I could feel that the pet show would be much merrier because the amount of participants would be much more than the year before. I hoped that Raven would do something at least good enough not to lose shamefully.

At the next day, everybody were gathered at the center outfield of Strawberryland. The stage of the pet show had been prepared similar to the previous year, and every pet owner were sitting on the audience seats in excitement for the pet show to begin. I was among them, sitting between Peppermint and Apricot. Raven was still yet to come, making me anxious. A few minutes later, Honey Pie Pony came out to the stage.

"Ladies and gentlekids, welcome to the second ever Annual Nearly Twice A Yearly Strawberryland Pet Show! I'm Honey Pie Pony who will be the judge. And because I will be the judge..." she announced, which kept going without anyone listening much.

"Last year I just stopped her long speech, but I guess I will let it by this time," Peppermint whispered to me.

"Is this a pet show, or an oration?" Apricot whispered to me.

"...and then, how should I continue? Hmm..." Honey Pie Pony asked herself.

"If I may suggest, why don't you continue by starting the show?" a voice said from above the stage. Everyone looked towards the stage's top and realized that it was Raven.

"My oh my, isn't it our friend Raven? It's been berry berry long, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Indeed quite long, kid. Anyway, I want to ask if I'm allowed to... participate," he said.

"Why not? The more the berry merrier!" Strawberry said.

"But who's gonna be the owner?" Angel asked. "I mean, this is a pet show. There must be an owner for every pet."

"I came here for that kid, so he will be the one," Raven said, looking at me. He then flew to the back of the stage.

"Well, it looks like we have a new participant. Can someone handle the registration, or we don't need any? Anyway, let's start with Custard and Pupcake!" Honey Pie Pony announced and moved aside. Soon, Strawberry's two pets came out to the stage and performed what seemed like a folk dance, which seemed quite weird to me. But because everyone applauded when they finished I followed what the crowd was doing. Later, other pets also performed on stage.

Vanilla Icing played a trumpet.

Marmalade played a harp.

Chocolate Chipmunk moved around the stage riding a monocycle.

Shoofly Frog jumped through obstacles which had been put around the stage for his performance.

Cola performed a hide and seek game for the audiences. They were told to try to find him several times while he was hiding disguised in the background of the stage.

Cheesecake were given math questions randomly asked by the audiences, and he gave the right answer for each question by writing on a whiteboard.

Triple Ripple Toucan sang with rhytm, similar to how people do a beatboxing.

Rhubarb Raccoon performed similar to Chocolate Chipmunk, although the monocycle was replaced by a beach ball.

Sourball Skunk got nervous on stage that she accidentally let her nature as a skunk manifested, causing some pets to faint. Even some kids almost fainted because of the stench. Luckily, Ginger had a device she had named The Amazing Odor Removing Machine, which she immediately took from her house and used to clear the air from the stench.

Hopsalot Bunny and Apple Ducklin' didn't perform much other than moving around the stage.

As the pets performed their part, I got more and more anxious because Raven's turn were getting closer and closer. Although I knew that the pet show was all just for fun, I could feel that deep down in my heart I wanted to win. I really hoped that Raven would perform something impressive, but remembering his last sentence at the previous day made me feel pessimistic.

"Alright then, now we are on to the last contestant. The one and only, Raven the crow!" Honey Pie Pony announced, and then she moved aside. Raven then came out to the stage.

"Hi, kids!" Raven shouted.

"Hi, Raven!" everyone greeted back.

"Do you like stories?" he asked.

"Yes, Raven!" everyone answered.

"Good, then I will tell you a story," he said, clearing his throat. "Once upon a time, there was a pirate captain. People called him Captain Cocoberry, and he was feared by everyone!"

"Everyone?" Lemon asked.

"Yes! Everyone and everywhere! On oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, swamps, even water puddles!" he said, and everyone laughed.

"He's funny!" Peppermint commented, still giggling.

"One day, while he was going to get aboard his ship at a port, he tripped off and fell into the water," Raven said while acting to fall down. Everyone laughed. " 'HELP! I can't swim! Someone throw a life ring!' he yelled in panic," Raven continued, acting like a drowning person, and everyone laughed.

"A pirate captain... can't swim? Yeah right," Peppermint said, still giggling.

" 'We don't have any life ring! How about a swimsuit?' one sailor asked," Raven said, and everyone laughed again. The story kept going for the next few minutes with unstoppable laughing from all audiences. I hadn't ever realized that Raven was such a good story teller, especially when it came to funny stories like the one he had just told.

After Raven had done telling, everyone were given a piece of paper and pencil. Each was instructed to secretly vote on two pets that were not his/her own pet. I personally liked Cola's performance the best so I voted on him, followed by Cheesecake's performance. After everyone had done voting, Honey Pie Pony started counting secretly behind the stage. Everyone waited in excitement, except me who was waiting in anxiety. Later Honey Pie Pony came out to the stage and began speaking.

"Alright then. Now that the counting is finished, it is time to announce the winner!" she announced. "The winner is..."

There was a silence for the next seconds which felt like forever to me. Everyone waited in excitement while I could feel my heartbeat increasing. I really expected to hear Raven's name coming out from Honey Pie Pony's mouth.

"Cola Chameleon with his Hide And Seek game!" she announced. Everyone then applauded on Peppermint, gave her a handshake, and some even hugged her. However, I sat still like a statue because the fact that I hadn't won had shocked me like a huge lightning bolt.

"Thanks, everyone. And I can assure you all that this time I didn't cheat," Peppermint said.

"Then, at the second place..." Honey Pie Pony announced. "Cheesecake with his mathematic performance!"

Everyone then did the same to Blueberry as what they had done to Peppermint. The announcement felt like a second lightning bolt to me, and I still didn't move at all from my place.

"Finally, the third place..." Honey Pie Pony announced. "Kinda unbelievable, but it's Sourball Skunk! With her... unforgettable performance if I might say,"

Lemon then received the same patronage from everyone, while I still didn't move at all from my place. I couldn't believe how making a stinky air pollution could be better than a good story telling everyone had loved. I tried to convince myself that it didn't matter because the event was all just for fun, but my inner heart still refused to accept.

"Here is the list of votes!" Honey Pie Pony announced, and then Cheesecake put a piece of paper on the stage's wall. Some of the kids, including me, went to the piece of paper to see who got how many votes.

Custard and Pupcake: 1

Vanilla Icing: 1

Marmalade: 0

Chocolate Chipmunk: 2

Shoofly Frog: 1

Cola Chameleon: 6

Cheesecake: 5

Tripple Ripple Toucan: 1

Sourball Skunk: 4

Rhubarb Raccoon: 2

Hopsalot Bunny: 0

Apple Ducklin': 0

Raven The Crow: 3

"Congratulations for the winner, and for those who didn't win, better luck next time!" Honey Pie Pony announced.

"Fourth place..." I said.

"Like I said, kid. Don't expect much," Raven said.

"It's fine. Thanks for your help," I said, even though my inner heart said otherwise. And so, the day ended with me trying to hide my sorrows.

One week later, Strawberry came to my house again. This time she told me about another event named Nearly Once A Yearly Strawberryland Games. I knew some things about the event because I had watched the event the year before with Eagle Eye. Like the pet show, the games hadn't run smoothly because of Peppermint's cheating on all games.

"Strawberry, you know better than me that I'm not into sports," I said. "I will just lose in every games."

"It doesn't matter who wins or who loses. It's all about going out there and putting your heart into it. That's the really fun part!" she said.

"Well, to be honest... it matters for me," I said, lowering my head and leaning on the tree of my house.

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't know why, but it seems I have a hard time trying to be a good sport," I said. "No matter how hard I try, something from the inside wants me to win."

"That's why you should come," she said. "You can try again, and you will become one eventually."

"Are you sure? It's easier said than done for me," I said.

"Berry sure!" she said.

"You sure have confidence. Okay, I'll come and see what will happen there," I said.

"Great! See you tomorrow, then!" she said, and she left the place.

After she had left, I thought about what would happen on the next day. I could imagine myself facing humiliations for losing every single game, and once again my inner heart told me to do something to win. I didn't know why I had done what I did next, but it really happened. I made a badge-shaped device I named Superiority. The shape of the badge was like a thunder, and whenever I wore the badge it would stimulate my body, resulting an increase in my physical abilities. After making it, I doubted on using it because I would be just the same like Peppermint in the previous year if I did.

At the next day, I came to the center outfield where the event would be held, already wearing Superiority on my shirt. When I arrived most of every other kids were already there, and with their pets as well. I joined the crowd and waited for the event to start.

Shortly after, everyone have arrived so it was time to start the event. Once again, Honey Pie Pony was the judge but she didn't begin with a long speech like in the pet show. Instead, she immediately began the event after a short speech. The first game was a skateboard race, and because there were twelve contestants the game was divided into two waves, and then the winner and the runner up from each wave would compete in the third wave. I got the second wave so I watched the first wave first. The participants in the first wave were Strawberry, Huck, Orange, Apricot, Blueberry, and Lemon.

"On your mark, get set... and go!" Honey Pie Pony shouted, and the race began.

"Who do you think will win?" I asked Raspberry.

"If you ask me, I bet Huck will be the first," she answered. "But I'm not sure about the second. Probably either Orange or Strawberry."

Raspberry was right. Huck left the other racers far ahead while Strawberry and Orange followed with the former slightly ahead of the latter. The rest fell behind by a lot of distance. Later Huck came out as the winner while Strawberry came out as the runner up. Orange was behind her by only a split second.

"Nice one, Huck!" I said as he came back to the crowd.

"Thanks! By the way, I haven't seen that badge before," he said, looking at Superiority.

"Oh, this is just something to lift my spirit up," I lied.

Soon, the second wave began with me having to race against Raspberry, Ginger, Angel, Rainbow, and Peppermint. I doubted, but in the end I decided to keep wearing Superiority. In my thinking even with the badge on I would still lose because I didn't know how to skate, so with it on at least I would not lose shamefully.

"On your mark, get set... and go!" Honey Pie Pony shouted, and the second wave began.

Superiority turned out to be quite better than I had thought. I could skate on the track with relative ease, and I soon got in the third position with Raspberry quite far ahead and Rainbow right in front of me. Peppermint was close behind and the rest fell behind quite far. Later Raspberry came out as the winner while I crossed the finish line side-by-side with Rainbow. There was a small debate on who got the second place.

"Well, who got the second place?" I asked.

"Well, I don't really know," Rainbow replied. "But I think it was you."

"No, I think it was you, Rainbow," I said.

"Nah, it was you, matey," she said.

"You," I said.

"No, you!" she said.

"Alright, alright. Debate's over!" Honey Pie Pony interrupted. "As the judge, I decide that..." she continued, pausing for a moment. "Both of you got the second place, so all of you will be on the third wave."

Later, the third wave had five contestants. I knew that there was no way for me to win even with Superiority because of the presence of two tough opponents, so I decided to keep wearing it and see how far I could get.

"On your mark, get set... and go!" Honey Pie Pony shouted, and the third wave began.

It was just as I had thought. Huck was far ahead with Raspberry and Strawberry following behind him. Rainbow and I fell behind quite far away, but something I hadn't been expecting happened. Raspberry and Strawberry tried to overtake Huck, but all three of them bumped to each other. As the result, Huck and Raspberry fell off from the course while Strawberry got slowed down significantly. Both I and Rainbow noticed the chance so we overtook Strawberry and once again the race between us happened. I completely forgot that I was actually cheating and gave eveything I got. I didn't look anywhere else other than front. Right before crossing the finish line I suddenly lost my balance and fell down to the ground, seeing Rainbow to overtake me. I didn't realize what had happened when I stood up, but I saw that everybody were cheering over me.

"Huh? What happened?" I asked.

"You won, that's what," Peppermint said.

"Huh? Wasn't it Rainbow?" I asked again. "I fell down, right?"

"You fell down right on the finish line, just a split second before Rainbow crossed it," Honey Pie Pony said. "And that qualified you as the winner."

"Really? It's kinda... unbelievable for me," I said, not believing.

"Yeah, you got the first place! Congratulations!" Strawberry said. I was very happy for a moment, but then I realized something.

"Thanks, everyone. But, I have to say this..." I said, lowering my head and pausing for a moment. "I don't deserve to win."

"Huh? Why not?" Angel asked.

"This badge," I said, pointing at Superiority. "It's not just for lifting my spirit up like I had said. It actually increases my abilities. I cheated..."

"What? Why did you do that?" Raspberry asked. Everyone else also seemed surprised.

"I can't do any games, I feared that I would lose shamefully in every games. So I made this just so at least I wouldn't look like a fool," I said. "But I ended up winning because of this, and that didn't feel right," I continued. There was a silence for the next few seconds. Then we heard Honey Pie Pony clearing her throat.

"Okay, according to the rulebook page 235 paragraph 4, stimulants in any kind of form are not allowed. So, as the judge I have no other choice than disqu..." she said before interrupted.

"Hold on a second!" Huck said, coming to me. "May I try that badge?"

"Huh? Well, okay..." I said, taking Superiority off from my shirt and giving it to Huck. He then put it on his vest and tried skating around. Then he attempted a few stunts on it and did them all successfully. After that, he came back to the crowd.

"Nice moves, Huck!" Orange said.

"Yeah, totally cool!" Ginger said.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Apricot said.

"Was it because of the badge?" Raspberry asked.

"Hmm, I don't think so. I usually can do those by myself, and I didn't feel any change," Huck said, taking Superiority from his vest. "I don't think this badge works if you ask me. Someone else wants to try?" He offered.

"I will," Lemon said, taking Superiority and putting it on her clothes. Then she attempted some skating moves and failed in every attempt. She then returned to the crowd. "I didn't feel any change at all."

"Hold on, stand out, let me see!" Ginger said, taking Superiority from Lemon's hand and observed it. "There it is. This is why, am I right?"

"What is it?" Strawberry asked.

"You see, this badge has a tiny little switch to turn it on and off. And now its position is off, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Oh, you're berry right!" Strawberry said, noticing the switch on the back side of the badge.

"So I have forgotten to turn it on all this time?" I said. "And that means..."

"That means you won by yourself, fair and square," Raspberry said. "Congratulations!" she continued, and everyone else applauded me as well.

"Okay, now shall we begin the next game?" Honey Pie Pony asked.

"Yes, of course," I said, putting Superiority back on my shirt without touching the switch. "This will always be my spirit lifter," I continued, and then once again the fun wonderful time began.

I still wondered though. Had I really forgotten to turn it on...? While still wondering about that, I looked at Huck and he gave me a wink.

-End of Chapter 28-

Referenced episode: From this chapter onward, none. Therefore, this line will not appear anymore after this.


	33. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Hot Autumn

Summer was near its end. Signs of autumn coming such as leaves starting to change color were all over Strawberryland. However, the weather was still very hot despite all those signs. I wondered about it for a while to the point of considering to visit the Land of Seasons, but in the end I decided to wait a bit longer.

One day, in the midday, I was standing on the rooftop of my house looking at the scenery around. Indeed leaves have become yellow, and some of them had already started to fall down. However, the weather was still very hot. The temperature was so hot that it felt unnatural. While I was wondering about that, suddenly I heard a voice.

"Hey, long time no see, kid!" a voice greeted from above. I looked upward and saw that it was Summer, still in his flower shirt, brown trousers, and beach sandals. However, his crane wings were missing.

"Oh, hi, Summer," I greeted back as he landed next to me. "Where are your wings?"

"I felt silly having those wings, so I made them invisible with a little bit of magic," he replied. I then tried touching somewhere behind his back, and indeed the wings were actually still there.

"Yeah, I can feel your wings," I said. "What brings you here?"

"I suppose you notice something weird about the weather, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's so hot that it feels... unnatural," I said.

"It's actually natural if it's still in the middle of my season, but indeed this hot weather is unnatural at this time period," he said.

"Do you know what caused it?" I asked. "Oh, and I never used my weather controller anymore, even though I have repaired it."

"I knew that I could trust you," he said.

"Umm, you haven't answered my first question," I said.

"Know the cause you asked? Not only that. I'm the cause of all these," he said with a sigh, lowering his head.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, surprised.

"I suppose you know a few things about the season bringers, don't you?" he asked back.

"Yeah, a little bit. While one season bringer works, the others sleep," I replied. "Hey, but you..."

"Exactly. I'm supposed to at least start sleeping by now, but as you can see, I'm still awake," he said, sighing again.

"How come?" I asked.

"Well, that's because..." he replied, but there was an interruption.

"He can't sleep. That's why," a female voice said from above. I looked upwards and saw a lady who was around Sour Grapes' age. She wore a brown long dress with autumn leaves images on it. She had brown wavy hair and her shoes were brown high heels. Her wings seemed like they were made from three large dried leaves on each side. All in all, she had an elegant look which fit an autumn theme.

"Mom, couldn't you just let me finish my sentence by myself?" Summer said, which surprised me.

"You said... mom?" I asked.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Lady Autumn, the one who brings fall season," the lady said. "I'm not his mother, but all of us were so close to each other like a family."

"Yeah, for me Spring is like my sister, Lady Autumn is like my mother, and Old Man Winter is like my grandfather," Summer said.

"You said that Summer can't sleep? Why?" I asked.

"None of us know, dear. If we knew why we would come with a solution right now," Lady Autumn replied.

"Yeah, I tried to sleep, but I couldn't. I felt so tired but I couldn't fall asleep. If I don't sleep soon, more problems will arise," Summer said with another sigh.

"Indeed. For now we have a hot fall season, and later the trees won't be able to decide between letting their leaves to fall or not. As the result many of them will wither and die," Lady Autumn said.

"What? We can't let that to happen!" I said, surprised.

"Of course we can't. That's why I came here," Summer said. "To meet you."

"Huh? Me? Why me? I'm just a kid," I asked, wondering.

"I have the same question too, dear," Lady Autumn said.

"You're a kid, but not an ordinary one. You can make a weather controller and that dimension door I saw," Summer said. "So maybe you can think of something."

"Well, it's so sudden for me. I can't think that fast," I said. "Give me a moment."

"As you wish, but don't take too long," he said.

I then started to think about Summer's problem. According to what he had said, his problem was similar to an insomniac. However, I hadn't made any sleep-inducing devices or such, and I didn't know if I could make something like that or not. While still thinking, suddenly I remembered something.

"Dream fairies," I said. "Maybe they can help."

"Dream fairies, huh? I don't know much about them because unlike berry fairies, they don't have any kind of cooperation with us," Summer said. "Not to mention that I have never seen a dream fairy by myself in my whole life."

"You never dream in your sleep?" I asked.

"Of course we do. It's just that there's nothing special between us and the dream fairies," he replied.

"Oh, okay," I said.

"Okay, so how the dream fairies can help me?" he asked.

"They usually induce sleep powder to insomniacs. Maybe it will work on you as well," I said.

"I see. How can we go to their place, then?" he asked again.

"This," I answered, taking Time Remote Mark II from my pocket.

"Ah, your dimension door I see. Then, shall we go now?" he said.

"Right away if you want it," I said. "The Land of Dreams!" I spoke to the remote, and a dimension door appeared in front of us.

"I will stay here. I need to maintain the season," Lady Autumn said.

"Okay, see you later. Love you, mom," Summer said.

"Love you too, son. Good luck," Lady Autumn said, and the two of us entered the dimension door.

We ended up right in front of the Dream Fort. I then walked to PJ's building and Summer followed behind me. As we arrived in front of the building, the lady I knew opened the door and welcomed us with her usual pencil and notepad.

"Blackberry Bun and Summer. Welcome to PJ's. Please have your seats," she said.

"Is she a dream fairy? She looks different than the berry fairies," Summer whispered to me as we walked to a table.

"Of course not. She is PJ, the owner of this building. The real dream fairy will come soon," I whispered back.

We then had our seats and a glass of sundae immediately appeared in front of me.

"Thanks. It's really what I need after being in a hot weather," I said. "But why my friend didn't get one?"

"I don't eat anything, and it seems she knows it," Summer said.

"Indeed, my dears. And I know that you came because of a problem," PJ said. "She is on the way and will arrive soon."

"She? Who?" Summer said.

"That would be me. Diana Dusk, chief of the dream fairies. Daisy and Mary are still sleeping so for now I'm the one in charge," a voice said from the front door. It was indeed Diana who came.

"Ah, Diana! It's nice to meet you again," I said.

"Me too, actually. Although you have to remember that you were exiled from here, and once again you came bending our rules," Diana said, shaking her head.

"You were exiled...?" Summer asked.

"Well, it's a long story," I replied. "Anyway, I suppose you already know why I came, right?" I said to Diana.

"Of course. That's why Her Majesty made an exception to that rule. This is a very crucial problem for us as well," she replied.

"Really?" I asked.

"Unnatural weather will put negative minds into the heads of all people. Negative minds feed nightmares, and then nightmares will take over the whole Land of Dreams! This is serious business!" she shouted.

"Okay okay, now I understand. So, what are we going to do now?" I asked.

"If he was a normal person, I could just give him sleep powder or use my Tranquilizer spell all by myself," she said. "But he's a deity. All those I mentioned will be useless."

"I don't think I'm so great to be worth mentioned as deity, but whatever. So, what are you gonna do?" Summer asked.

"I said `all by myself`, didn't I? Let's go outside for now," Diana said, flying towards the door. Summer and I followed her, and once we got outside we saw that the field had been swarmed by dream fairies. It seemed like the whole Dream Fairy Fields residents had been called to gather there.

"Why so many dream fairies?" Summer asked.

"All of us will try to gather our power into one big Tranquilizer spell. This is the only way we can think of, so if this fails we won't have any more idea," Diana said.

"I see. Let's try it then," Summer said.

"Okay, stay still and relax. We will begin the spell soon," Diana said, then she flew away to join the crowd of dream fairies. As instructed, Summer stood still near the crowd while closing his eyes, and I waited alongside PJ right in front of the door of her building. Soon, all dream fairies pointed their wand upwards and a blue ball of light started to appear above them. The light kept growing larger until its size ended up as large as Strawberry's house. Then the dream fairies pointed their wand towards Summer, who kept standing still with his eyes closed. The light then slowly moved towards him and stopped a few distances above his head.

"Ready, everyone?" Diana shouted.

"Ready!" the crowd answered.

"On the count of three! One, two... three!" Diana shouted, and a thin laser beam came out from each dream fairy's wand towards the ball of light. It then shattered and showered blue sparkles on Summer. The shower lasted for a few minutes, and once it ended Diana approached Summer who was still standing with his eyes closed.

"Did it work?" Diana said, observing Summer's face.

"No, it didn't," Summer said, opening his eyes. "I didn't feel anything."

"Oh, we give up," Diana said, falling down to the ground.

"Why giving up so soon? There must be a way," Summer said.

"The spell we just did have used up all our energy. We can't do anything more," Diana said. "Sorry, we can't help at all."

"Oh... but thanks for trying. I will try to find another way, then," Summer said.

So, the two of us returned to Strawberryland without any result. After coming out from the dimension door which led us to my rooftop, Summer looked around with his hands on his hips and sighed.

"Everyone will be in trouble if I don't sleep. Why can't I sleep?" he asked himself. Then, Lady Autumn came flying to us.

"So, it didn't work, son?" she asked as she landed.

"No, mom. I have no idea why this happens," Summer said.

"Usually, people can't sleep because they have something in mind that prevents them from sleeping," I said. "Do you have something in mind? Something that feels like a burden?"

After I asked my question, Summer fell into a deep silence. Nobody said anything for the next few seconds.

"Son, is there something in your mind? Tell us, maybe it will ease your mind," Lady Autumn said.

"Well..." Summer said with a brief pause. "Truth to be told, there is one thing..."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I... I made Spring cry," he said, which surprised both me and Lady Autumn.

"What? What did you do, son? How could you do that?" Lady Autumn asked.

"When it was time for the season to change from spring to summer, I met her. We had a talk for a moment, and we ended up fighting over a small thing," Summer said.

"What small thing if I may ask?" I asked.

"Well..." he said timidly. "About whose season is more important."

"Son, you know very well that all seasons are equally important," Lady Autumn said.

"I know, mom. But she kept saying that her season was the most important of all. It seemed like someone has told her so, or something similar to that," Summer said.

"Oh, then what happened next?" I asked.

"She was so stubborn no matter how hard I tried to advise her. In the end..." he said, pausing for a moment. "I couldn't hold my emotion and scolded her..."

"Oh my. You know that Spring is sensitive and fragile when it comes to that, son..." Lady Autumn said.

"I know, but I just couldn't help myself. When I realized that, it was already too late when she left me crying," Summer said. "She shouted `I hate you!` before that."

"I think we find the cause of your insomnia," I said. "Your guilt is the cause."

"You should have told us from the start, son. We could have saved some time if you have," Lady Autumn said.

"Sorry. I was... embarassed," Summer said.

"Okay, now that we know why, it's time to end it. Let's go to her and try to be in good terms again with her," I said.

"It's not as easy as it sounds, but let's go there anyway," he said.

"Land of Seasons," I said, and my Time Remote Mark II responded perfectly. All of us then jumped into the dimension door it had created, and ended up right in front of the entrance of Land of Seasons. We then walked into the Spring area until we arrived in a large field of flowers which was very beautiful with all the colorful flowers there.

"What a sight," I said.

"This flower field is where Spring usually sleeps," Summer said.

"Where can we find her?" I asked.

"Just a little bit more, dear," Lady Autumn said, and we walked again. Just a few minutes later, I saw a small mound which was covered by colorful flowers like the rest of the ground, and Spring was sleeping right on the mound, still in her green dress. We approached her and saw that there were tears on her cheeks.

"So, are you going to wake her up and apologize?" I asked.

"It's easier said than done. I can't wake her up," Summer said.

"And before you ask why, dear, waking her up can be dangerous," Lady Autumn said. "There must not be three season bringers awake at the same time. Even two is already dangerous if they are on the opposite side."

"But I saw Old Man Winter awake last summer and nothing bad happened," I said.

"He was still deep inside Gumball Bluff, that's why. Even though of that, if he had been awake longer something bad could have happened," Summer said.

"That means, you and Old Man Winter had never met with each other while awake?" I said.

"Exactly, dear. The same applies to me and Spring," Lady Autumn said. "We only can visit our opposites while the other is sleeping."

"Pity..." I said. "So, there's no way at all to apologize to her now?"

"I'm afraid no," Summer said with a sigh.

"Oh, there is a way of course. Believe in yourself," a voice suddenly said from behind us. We looked towards the source and saw that it was Sandman.

"Sandman! Long time no see!" I said.

"Who is he?" Summer asked.

"Summer, this is Sandman. The owner of the Dream Factory in the Land of Dreams," I said.

"I heard that you have a problem because you can't sleep, so I came to you to help," Sandman said.

"Not to doubt you, but if a whole army of dream fairies couldn't help me, how can you help?" Summer asked.

"I came here not to help you sleep. I came here to help you apologize to her," Sandman replied.

"What? How?" Summer asked.

"Kneel beside her and close your eyes," Sandman said, and Summer did as instructed. Sandman then put one hand on Summer's forehead and the other hand on Spring's. He then began concentrating and his hands started to shine.

"Spring..." Summer said, still with his eyes closed.

"Summer..." Spring muttered, still fast asleep.

"I see," Lady Autumn said. "He is connecting Summer to Spring's dream. That way they can talk without waking her up."

"Smart way. Let's just hope they can get along well," I said.

We waited for a moment while hoping for a happy end. However, we were too hopeful. They started arguing over the same thing again, and in the end Summer lost his mind again that he scolded Spring.

"I hate you!" Spring shouted, although still fast asleep. Then Sandman ended his connection.

"Son, you made the same mistake again..." Lady Autumn said.

"I can't help myself. She is too stubborn," Summer said, standing up.

"Now the situation isn't getting any better," Lady Autumn said.

"Well..." I said, thinking. "When brother and sister fight, the mother will become the middleman to solve it."

"So you are saying that I should talk to Spring now?" she asked.

"Yes, because you are like a mother to both of them, so maybe you can help," I replied. "Sandman, can you connect both Summer and Lady Autumn to Spring's dream?"

"Unfortunately, no. I only have two hands you see," Sandman said. "But don't worry. Help is on the way."

"Help? Who?" Summer asked.

"I'm already here," a voice said from behind. We looked towards the source and it was PJ.

"Very well. Let's start immediately, then," Lady Autumn said.

Soon, Summer and Lady Autumn kneeled on each of Spring's side. Sandman connected Summer while PJ connected Lady Autumn. This time, nobody said or muttered anything so I didn't know what happened over there. It lasted for quite a long time until I noticed all three of them smiling, and the connection ended.

"Thanks, mom. I couldn't have done it without you," Summer said.

"You're welcome, son," Lady Autumn said. "And I thank you as well. Because of your fighting we have a chance to meet each other."

"You're welcome, mom," Summer said. "And both of us thank you too, PJ and Sandman, for what you have just done."

"It was no problem at all, dear," PJ said.

"I think we will take our leave now. I have left my factory for too long," Sandman said. "Farewell for now."

"Farewell," Lady Autumn said as the two Land of Dreams residents flew away.

"So, all ended well?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm now in good terms with Spring again. Thanks," Summer said.

"Hey, I didn't do anything," I said.

"You figured out the cause of my problem, and you also figured out how to solve it. That's why I thank you," he said.

"Well... yeah, okay. You're welcome," I said, blushing a little.

"Now that it's all over, I'm getting sleepy," he said, yawning. "I will go to my place and sleep."

"I'd like to see your place for once," I said.

"It's not much different than this field. Just replace these flowers with green grass and some trees, and you got it," he said. "I sleep on a hammock attached between two coconut trees."

"I see. Then I wish you sweet dreams," I said.

"Thanks. See you on the next summer," he said, and he flew away.

"Now that he can sleep, the weather should go back to normal soon. You have my gratitude, dear," Lady Autumn said.

"Don't mention it," I said. "I guess I will take my leave as well. I wish you luck in bringing autumn season to everyone all over the world," I said.

"Thank you dear," she said. I then spoke out my district's name to my remote and jumped into the dimension door that appeared.

-End of Chapter 29-


	34. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Journey West

Over three days after solving Summer's problem, the weather gradually became cooler, which implied that Summer was finally able to sleep again. I watched the leaves falling outside the window in joy of successfully restoring the natural weather. While I was still watching over the scenery, I heard someone shouting.

"Hey, Blackberry!" the voice shouted. I looked outside the window and I saw that it was Strawberry. "To the club!"

I didn't know what her intention was, but I immediately took Swallow's Flight which was coincidentally lying on a table next to me, put it on my shirt, and jumped out of the window. I landed safely on the ground because of my lighter body, and Strawberry was a little bit surprised.

"Faster than going down the ladder," I said, pointing at the wing-shaped badge. "Shall we go now?" I continued as I removed the badge from my shirt and put it into my pocket.

"Yes, come quick!" Strawberry said in excitement.

Both of us then ran to the clubhouse taking Blueberry, Rainbow, Apricot, and Peppermint along the way. When we arrived at the clubhouse, everybody else had been already there.

"Okay, now that everybody's here, what are you going to say?" Raspberry asked.

"Yeah, Strawberry. What are you gonna tell us?" Angel asked.

"I just thought of a berry great thing, and I can't wait to tell you all!" Strawberry said still in excitement.

"Okay, so what is it? I hope you're not going to waste my time," Peppermint said.

"The good thing about the Friendship Club is that there's always room for more friends," Strawberry said.

"You said that once," Orange said.

"And then we sent invitations to everyone all over the world, am I right? And it was a success, am I right again?" Ginger said.

"Yeah, but this time..." Strawberry said, pausing for a moment. "How about the other way around?"

"The other way around?" Lemon asked.

"Umm, what do you mean, Strawberry?" Huck asked.

"How about we going out there and looking for new friends ourselves? I'm berry sure it will be an exciting trip!" Strawberry said.

"It will?" Lemon asked.

"Well..." Blueberry said with a brief pause. "I don't know, but it doesn't sound that interesting to me. I mean, having new friends is always great, but the trip..."

"Hmph, just as I thought. This is a waste of my time," Peppermint said.

"Why I don't feel that excited?" Raspberry said, thinking.

"Yeah, me too. It's not so cool for me. Why is it?" Apricot wondered.

"Oh, I think I know why," I said. "Lemon, Raspberry, Apricot, Blueberry, and Peppermint. All of you have done such trip with me, and that is why you don't feel so excited about the idea."

"Oh, yes. Now I remember," Raspberry said, and the other girls I had mentioned nodded, which meant that they agreed with me.

"So, how about the rest?" I asked.

"Count me in!" Huck said.

"Me too! That's a great idea!" Angel said.

"Yeah, count me in as well, will you huh Strawberry Shortcake?" Ginger said.

"I will go along too!" Orange said.

"Count me in, matey!" Rainbow said.

"Apple not want," Apple said, which surprised everyone a bit.

"Oh, why is it, Apple? This time you can go with us if you want," Strawberry said.

"Apple did trip, with Blackberry," Apple said.

"Oh, yes. Apple was one of them too," I said.

"Then you can stay with someone who will stay," Strawberry said.

"Okay, then. When will we go?" I asked.

"How about... now?" Huck suggested.

"You must be joking. We need to prepare first, you know," I said.

"Tomorrow morning then?" he said.

"That's better. Anybody else agree?" I asked, which was replied by a nod from the others.

"Okay, now that it is settled, see you t'morrow morning!" Ginger said, leaving the place.

"She sure is enthusiastic," I said.

Soon, I left the clubhouse and went back to my home. Then I spent the rest of the day preparing for the trip next day. I did maintenance works on all my devices and put them all into my backpack, and it was done right before bedtime. After I finished the works I went to sleep. At the next day, all of the kids who participated in the trip gathered in the clubhouse. As I had thought, the participants were the main five plus me and Rainbow.

"So, now that we are all here, shall we go now?" I asked.

"Yeah, what are you waiting for, huh Strawberry Shortcake?" Ginger asked.

"By the way, where are we gonna go?" Angel asked.

"I don't know. Let's just go wherever the rail will take us," Strawberry said.

"The rail? You mean, the train station in Upper Truffle?" Huck asked.

"Sounds so," Orange said.

"Let's go then, mateys!" Rainbow said.

All of us then walked to Upper Truffle, the only place which had a train station. I was glad that I brought quite an amount of blackberries in my backpack because I would need some of them to trade for the train ticket for me. When we arrived at the train station, we immediately went to the booth where we could buy tickets.

"Each of us has berries to buy the ticket, right?" Strawberry asked, and everyone else nodded. Then we queued in front of the booth.

"One full day trip, please," Strawberry said.

"What berries do you have?" the officer inside the booth asked.

"Strawberries," Strawberry said.

"That would be six strawberries, please," the officer said.

"Here they are," Strawberry said, giving six strawberries to him.

"And here's your ticket. Have a pleasant trip," the officer said, giving a ticket.

It was the first time for me to know that each kind of berries had its own value in trading. I saw next that Orange had to pay with four oranges, Huck with ten huckleberries, Angel and Ginger with six strawberries as well, Rainbow with eight cherries, and finally it was my turn.

"One full day trip, please," I said. "I have blackberries."

"Blackberries? Then it would be five blackberries, please," the officer said.

"Five blackberries," I said, and my backpack threw it into my hands. Then I gave them to the officer. "Here you go."

"And here's your ticket. Have a pleasant trip," the officer said, giving a ticket.

After that, all of us went to the platform of the station. There was a train there which was scheduled to run to the west. All of us agreed to ride that train, and then we went into the train. Inside the train was quite spacious and also comfortable with all the seats. All of us then took our seats and waited for the train to start running. Six of us took two seats facing each other, while one had to sit on the seat across.

"This is the first time I ride a train," I said, sitting next to the window.

"Me too!" Strawberry said, sitting in front of me.

"I believe it's the same for everyone else as well," Huck said, sitting next to me on the right, and everyone else nodded.

"I can't wait for the trip!" Angel said in excitement, sitting in front of Huck.

"Yeah me too! I have never left Strawberryland this far!" Orange said, sitting next to Angel who was on her right.

"That's right. The furthest we have gone was Ice Cream Island, am I right? Or was it the Berry Fairy Fields?" Ginger said, sitting next to Huck.

"I have been much further than that, matey," Rainbow said, sitting on the seat across. "But it was on my boat. I have never done it on land."

"Let's wait and see what kind of surprises we will see," I said.

Soon, the train finally departed. All of us looked through the window, seeing Strawberryland for the last time until our return. Then we spent time talking together while occasionally looked at the scenery outside. Later, we heard a voice.

"Tickets, please!" the voice said. We realized that it was the ticket collector so we immediately had our tickets ready. We waited until the officer came to us, and once he did, I was surprised. The ticket collector looked just like the dog catcher I had met in Pearis. I then remembered that the dog catcher had a twin brother.

"Your tickets, please," the officer asked us, and all of us gave him our tickets.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you have a twin brother if I may ask?" I asked.

"Why, yes! How did you know?" the officer replied.

"I met him some time ago in Pearis. He saved me from a stray dog," I said.

"Ah, now I remember! I met him too, although not much," Strawberry said.

"I see. Did he say anything about me?" he asked.

"Well, he told me to say hello to you if I met you by chance. He's a really nice man," I said.

"I'm glad that he's doing fine. Oh, here are your tickets," he said, returning our tickets.

"Merci!" I and Strawberry said, and then the officer left. The trip continued for a while until we heard an announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Next stop, Watermelon Patch," the announcer said.

"Should we get off there?" I asked.

"We aren't that far yet," Angel said. "But why not?"

"Yeah, I have never been there, and everyone else too, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Yeah," Orange said.

Everybody else agreed, so we got off on the train station in Watermelon Patch. When we got out from the train station, we saw that the scenery was not much different than Strawberryland, only that the amount of lollipop trees was much less. However, in their place there were watermelon bushes.

"Do you think we will find a new friend here?" Angel asked.

"I'm berry sure we will! Let's try and look around," Strawberry said.

"You sure are optimistic," I said.

We then walked around the area while occasionally taking photos with Ginger's camera. There was nothing really special at the area other than the abundance of watermelons which had never happened in Strawberryland. Some of us even thought of taking one or two watermelons, but because they seemed to have someone owning them we decided not to do it. We kept walking until we saw a house in a shape of a glass of beverage. Looking at the red color of the "liquid" and a watermelon slice placed on top of the house, we could notice that the house was shaped like a watermelon beverage.

"Do you think there's someone in there?" Orange asked.

"I think so," Rainbow said.

"If there is someone there, is that someone gonna be our friend?" Angel asked.

"We won't know until we try," Huck said.

"Let's go there and give a visit," I said, and we all walked to the house. Once we arrived, I pressed the doorbell button I found and waited for a moment. Soon, someone opened the door and it was a girl with green hair and watermelon-themed dress.

"Hi there! Anything I can help you with?" she greeted.

"We are travellers looking for new friends! I'm Strawberry Shortcake, this is Angel Cake, Orange Blossom, Ginger Snap, Huckleberry Pie, Rainbow Sherbet, and Blackberry Bun," Strawberry said.

"I'm Watermelon Kiss. Welcome to my humble home!" the girl welcomed.

"You live alone here?" Orange asked as we all came into her house.

"Well, yes. My friends here are only squirrels, birds, butterflies, and such," Watermelon said. "Oh, please have your seats!"

"Don't you feel a bit... lonely?" Angel asked. There was a silence for a brief moment.

"Well..." Watermelon said. "I kinda feel lonely sometimes, but what can I do? There's nobody around in miles and miles!"

"We can always be your friends!" Strawberry said. "Come to Strawberryland sometime! You'll be berry welcomed!"

"Really? Oh, thank you very much!" Watermelon said. "I sure will come!"

All of us then spent one hour together. During the hour Watermelon Kiss learned about many things in Strawberryland, including other friends there. All in all, Watermelon was a nice new friend.

"Oh, I think it's time for us to go," Strawberry said.

"Why so soon?" Watermelon asked.

"We are travelling to look for more friends," Strawberry replied. "We will be waiting for you to come sometime."

"I will," Watermelon said. "Oh, here, take some watermelons with you."

"Thanks, but..." Angel said, looking at the watermelons. "They're kinda... too big and heavy."

"You bet. If we bring these with us we will be exhausted and fall down really fast, am I right?" Ginger said. "But hey, it's not that I don't like it."

"Okay, leave it to me, then," I said, taking one watermelon and throwing it upwards. My backpack understood perfectly and sucked the watermelon into it.

"Your backpack sure is special," Huck commented as I threw another watermelon into my backpack.

All of us then left Watermelon's house waving hands, and she did the same. We walked to the train station to ride the next train available. We looked at the schedule and saw that the next train going west would arrive in the next five minutes. We also looked at the route map.

"Now we are here at Watermelon Patch. Where should we stop next?" I asked.

"Well..." Rainbow said, looking at the map. "How about here? Corn Country."

"That's a good idea. We never see corns in Strawberryland," Orange said.

"Why not? Everybody else agree?" Angel said, and everyone nodded.

We then got onboard the train which soon arrived and took our seats in the same formation as the previous ride. We didn't have to buy new tickets because our previous tickets could be used for the whole day. The ride lasted for about one hour, and during the ride some of us, to be exact me, Angel, and Orange, fell asleep.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Next stop, Corn Country," an announcement was heard.

"Oh, that's our stop! Wake up everyone!" Strawberry said in excitement.

Soon, all of us got off from the train at Corn Country train station. The scenery outside the station was again not much different from Strawberryland, but it had more country feeling on it.

"Smell that country air," I said after taking a deep breath.

"It really feels nice," Angel said.

"I like it berry much," Strawberry said.

"Let's walk around and see if we can find a new friend here," Orange said.

"Yeah, let's go right now, huh everyone?" Ginger said.

We then walked around the area taking photos on the way. On one occasion we came across a farm, but it was empty and looked abandoned. We even went inside it to make sure, but indeed the farm was abandoned looking at the amount of dust inside.

"Seems there's nobody here at all. Nope, not ever," Ginger said.

"Let's just get out of here before..." Angel said, coughing. "Before the dust kills me."

All of us agreed and left the abandoned farm. At first we gave up on looking for a new friend in the area, but soon we could see another farm downhill. The farm we saw seemed more alive than the one we had just left. We then decided to give that farm a visit.

"I'm sure we will meet someone there," I said.

"I sure hope the person will be a nice one too," Huck said.

Soon, we arrived right in front of the farm's door. Strawberry knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

"Hello, anybody there?" Strawberry shouted. There was no answer.

"Ahoy!" Rainbow shouted. There was no answer.

"Maybe the person is on the field?" Huck said.

"Let's try splitting up and look around. Everyone agree?" I said.

Everyone agreed on splitting up to look around and find out if there was anybody on the field. I went towards one fenced area where sheeps were kept, and saw nobody there. I walked around a bit more until suddenly I heard something.

"Everyone! Come quick!" a voice I recognized as Strawberry shouted. I then quickly ran towards the source, which seemed to be the corn field. I arrived there at the same time with others. We saw strawberry in the middle of the corn field, but we only could see her head because the corns had grown quite tall that they covered her from neck to toe.

"What's the matter?" Orange asked, panting.

"Yeah, what's the matter, huh Strawberry Shortcake? Did you find someone, huh Strawberry Shortcake?" Ginger asked.

"Come and help me, everyone! There's someone fainted here!" Strawberry replied.

All of us got surprised and immediately approached Strawberry. Indeed next to her there was a fainted girl with brown hair, blue overall, and white shirt. All of us then carried the fainted girl together towards the house. Fortunately, the door was not locked so we could get inside and put the girl on a sofa we found there.

"Is she gonna be fine?" Angel asked.

"No fever, so I think she will be fine," Strawberry said.

"Let's wait until she wakes up," Huck said.

We waited for a few minutes until the girl finally opened her eyes. When she did, she saw us and got surprised that she jumped into sitting position.

"Relax, matey. We are not here to harm you," Rainbow said.

"We found you fainted at the corn field, so we brought you here," Strawberry said.

"Oh..." The girl said, holding her forehead with one hand. "Sorry, I was just so... surprised. By the way, I'm Carmel Corn."

"It's okay," Angel said. "I'm Angel Cake."

"I'm Strawberry Shortcake. This is Orange Blossom, Ginger Snap, Huckleberry Pie, Rainbow Sherbet, and Blackberry Bun," Strawberry said.

"What happened that you fainted out there?" Huck asked.

"I think..." Carmel said with a brief pause. "I got exhausted while taking care of the corn field."

"You take care of the whole farm all by yourself?" Orange asked.

"Yeah..." Carmel replied. "Before moving here, I thought that living in a farm of my own would be nice, but it was the worst choice I have ever made."

"Worst choice?" I asked.

"All the works are too much for me alone. Chickens, cows, pigs, sheeps, the corn field, everything. This is really the worst place ever. I give up," Carmel said, lowering her head.

"No, you can't give up now," Strawberry said.

"Why shouldn't I? There's no way I can handle all those alone," Carmel said.

"Not if you have helping hands, yessire!" Ginger said.

"Helping hands? Who? How?" Carmel asked.

"Hey, Blackberry. You still bring that dimension door with you, am I right? Could you please lend it to me?" Ginger asked me.

"Time Remote Mark II," I said, and my backpack gave the device to me. "Here it is. But what are you going to use it for?"

"Just wait and see! Back in a flash!" she replied, running off with my remote.

"What is she going to do?" Carmel asked.

"I'm sure that everyone here is as clueless as you do," I replied.

We then waited for Ginger Snap to return to us. The wait didn't last that long because half an hour later she came back.

"Hey, everyone! I'm back, yessire!" she said from the front door.

"Where did you go?" Angel asked.

"I went home," Ginger replied. "I made these helping hands. Come outside and see for yourselves, will you huh everyone?"

As told by Ginger, all of us went outside the house and saw that she had returned bringing a four-handed robot and a cart full of materials and tools.

"What is this robot?" Strawberry asked.

"This is The Amazing Helping Hands! It will lend you not just one or two or three, but four helping hands! It can help you in any kind of works, yessire!" Ginger said.

"That's amazing, matey. But what about those things on the cart?" Rainbow asked.

"These? Just wait and see, huh will ya'?" Ginger replied, and then she brought the cart into the cow barn. There was a lot of noise heard from inside, and we could only watch from a distance.

"What is she doing there?" Carmel asked.

"Whatever it is, we will see soon," I said. "When it comes to machines, her speed is unmatched. She could build a huge boat in just one night."

"She did that?" Rainbow asked.

"When did she do that? I don't remember her doing something that amazing," Angel asked.

"I remember..." Orange said. "But it was in a dream, right?"

"Uh oh..." I said with low voice so nobody heard it. "I mean, she is so fast that it seems like she can build a boat in one night."

"Oh, I see," Huck said.

A few minutes later, Ginger came out from the barn with black marks all over her clothes and face. She was really dirty that all of us wondered what she had actually done inside the barn.

"Come inside and look, huh everyone?" she said, and we did as told. Inside the barn, we saw that there were contraptions installed all over it.

"What are these contraptions?" Carmel said.

"This is what I call The Amazing Helping Hands: Cow Caretaker Edition!" Ginger said. "They will do everything for you! Feeding, milking, you name it!" Ginger replied. "Now I'm on to the next part of this farm!" she continued, taking her cart.

"Wait! Hold on!" Carmel said.

"What is it, huh Carmel Corn?" Ginger asked.

"You see, I'm grateful that you made all these for me," Carmel said with a brief pause following. "But if you make these all over the farm, what will I do?"

Carmel had a point. If Ginger made contraptions all over the farm, then Carmel would have nothing to do there, and that would defeat the purpose of living in a farm. There was a silence for the next few seconds.

"I realize that I said about the farm having too much work to do, but I don't want it to have nothing for me to do at all," Carmel said. "So, I'm grateful for the things you have made here, Ginger, but it's already enough for me now."

"Well... if you say so, then okay no problem yessire!" Ginger said.

"But could you leave the materials here? I might want to use them someday," Carmel asked.

"No problem at all! Use it as you like!" Ginger replied.

So, once again we got a new friend on our journey west. Like Watermelon Kiss, Carmel Corn was also a nice new friend. She had difficult times not to give up in bad situations, but she was still a nice one. We spent some hours together until we noticed that the sun was setting.

"I think it's time to take our leave," I said.

"Why so soon?" Carmel asked.

"It's getting dark, and as you can see one of us is really exhausted," I replied, looking at Ginger who was sleeping on a sofa.

"I see. Thanks for everything," she said.

"I didn't do anything," I said. "Hope you will lead a successful farm."

"Thanks," she said.

All of us then left Carmel Corn's farm waving our hands and she did the same to us. We then walked to the train station to see if there was any train available to take us back to Strawberryland. All of us were aware that we could just use my remote to go home, but the trip on train felt so nice that we wanted to do it again. Our tickets were still valid anyway so we would have nothing to lose.

We were lucky that there was a train going to Strawberryland right when we arrived at the station. We then immediately got onboard and took our seats in the same formation as before. From the window we could see a view of sunset, and it was a very nice view. Soon, the train departed and all of us spent time talking together on how our journey west had been a complete success. We enjoyed our trip until we heard an announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Next stop, Upper Truffle. Please don't forget your belongings when you get off,"

-End of Chapter 30-


	35. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Sour Plum

One month have passed after the journey west. Over the month I noticed Watermelon Kiss coming to Strawberryland from time to time, although I didn't see Carmel Corn at all. I could understand though, that she was busy tending her farm. The weather was naturally cool with rains every few days, and piles of dried leaves could be found under most trees over Strawberryland, except lollipop trees of course.

I was walking around Strawberryland alone when I decided to stop by a tree. The tree was just an ordinary tree which had lost quite an amount of its leaves because of the autumn season. The tree was located quite far from the central area of Strawberryland and the closest house was Blueberry's house, so it was less likely that anybody else would come there anytime soon. The tree stood without any other similar trees close by. Its size was quite big and the remaining leaves were still plenty, enough to cover me from sunlight. Because of the mild condition, I decided to lie down under the tree and relax. I was almost asleep under that tree, when I suddenly heard a voice.

"Psst! Hey, kid!" the voice said, which sounded familiar to me. I got up into sitting position and found out that the voice was from Sour Grapes.

"You're Sour Grapes," I said.

"Oh, you know me?" she asked.

"I have seen you and heard about you a few times," I replied. "But we have never met for real before."

"Oh, I see. Anyway, I need you to do me a favor!" she said, seeming in a hurry.

"What is it?" I asked.

"There will be a newcomer in Strawberryland soon. I need you befriend and also watch her," she replied.

"Why should I? I mean, I'm sure everyone else in Strawberryland will be her friends with pleasure," I asked again.

"I'm worried about her. She is my..." she replied before suddenly interrupted by a loud voice from somewhere.

"Sour Grapes! Where are you?!" the voice yelled, which I recognized as Pie Man's voice. Sour Grapes seemed surprised and stopped her speech.

"There's no time! I need to go now! Please, just do me that favor!" she said in a hurry, and then she immediately left the place.

What had just happened left me wondering. What was so special about this new girl that Sour Grapes needed to ask me to befriend her, even though everybody else would most likely do so without being asked? She also had asked me to watch the new girl. What did that mean? Was she a type of girl who caused a lot of mischief? There were a lot of questions in my head, but then I decided to let it by and see what would happen next. With that in mind, I walked home.

At the next day, words spread across Strawberryland that there was a newcomer. Honey Pie Pony was the one who had found out the presence of the newcomer, and she spread the news to everyone. The newcomer lived in Plum Prairie, which was not too far from Punch Bowl Pond. Everyone then arranged a group to go there and throw a warm welcome to the newcomer. I joined the group, which consisted of the main four girls, and went with them to the newcomer's house.

The walk to Plum Prairie passed without any trouble. Not too long after passing Rainbow's boat, we arrived at the area and saw the house where the newcomer lived. As the area's name suggested, the house was shaped like a plum fruit, and right next to it was a tall plum tree. Strawberry then approached the front door and pressed the doorbell button she found.

"Coming!" a voice was heard from inside.

We waited a little bit, then suddenly we heard a loud noise of things falling down to the floor.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Strawberry shouted.

"Uh... Yeah, I'm just fine! I'm coming now!" the voice replied. Soon, the door opened and we saw a girl in purple wearing glasses with green frames. Her purple hair was a mess, and her shirts weren't any better.

"Hello, how can I help you?" the girl greeted.

"We want to say welcome to you. I'm Strawberry Shortcake, and this is Angel Cake, Ginger Snap, Orange Blossom, and Blackberry Bun," Strawberry replied.

"Oh, I'm Plum Puddin'. Sorry, but my home is a mess right now. I'm still unpacking things," the girl said.

"And the noise just then...?" Orange asked.

"...I tripped and fell down bumping my wardrobe, then everything fell out from it..." Plum replied, blushing.

"Sounds like you're having problems," Angel commented.

"You want us to help?" Strawberry offered.

"Well... I'd like to... that is, if you don't mind..." Plum said timidly.

"Why should we? Right everyone?" Strawberry said, looking at the rest of us.

"Of course I will help!" Angel said.

"Yep, you can count on me, yessire!" Ginger said.

"I will help too!" Orange said.

"I will too," I said.

It was settled quickly that by the next minute all of us were already busy tidying Plum's house up. It actually could be done faster, but I, along with the rest of the group, learned that Plum was quite a walking chaos. She tripped and fell down quite often that some places we had tidied up became a mess again. None of us complained, although I noticed Angel Cake starting to get upset. The activity continued until we heard Angel Cake shouting.

"Hey, look at this!" Angel shouted, and everyone else approached her. She was holding something that seemed like a photo frame which she had found along with other things in the cardboard box she was taking care of.

"What is it?" Strawberry asked.

"Look at this photo!" Angel replied, pointing at the photo. Everyone looked at the photo, and at the next second everyone except me and Plum gasped. Plum was in the photo, between two other persons we knew very well: Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes.

"Woow, are my eyes playing with me, Or they are really The Peculiar Purple Pie Man from Porcupine Peak and his sister Sour Grapes?" Ginger asked.

"It does seem so..." Angel said.

"You know them, Plum Puddin'?" Orange asked.

"Well..." Plum replied, pausing for a moment. "They are my cousins..."

"What? They are your family?!" Angel said, surprised.

"Yeah... Is there... something wrong...?" Plum asked.

I then began to understand what Sour Grapes had asked. Both Sour Grapes and her brother had quite a bad reputation in Strawberryland, and it might affect everyone's affection towards Plum. Perhaps Sour Grapes had asked me because she had been worried about Plum, and had hoped someone would be willing to be Plum's friend if the worst happened. However, I felt that it had not been needed after all.

"There's nothing wrong at all! Isn't that berry right, everybody?" Strawberry said, just as I had thought.

"Yeah, nothing really wrong," Orange said slowly with doubt.

"I guess..." Angel said.

"Yeah, nothing wrong at all! They only tried to rob us one, two, three times! Other than that nothing wrong at all yessire!" Ginger said.

"Ginger! No!" Strawberry shouted and Ginger realized it, covering her mouth with her own hands, but it was already too late.

"They... tried to rob you all...?" Plum asked. She seemed surprised and sad. "What did they stole?"

"Umm... yeah... they did..." Strawberry said. "But they didn't steal anything because we managed to prevent them."

"Oh... I guess, I have no place here after all..." Plum said, lowering her head and starting to leak tears.

"Why not? You're always welcome here!" Strawberry said.

"But my cousins..." Plum said.

"I don't really care who your cousins are! They are they! You are you!" Strawberry said, taking hold of Plum's hands.

"That's right, Plum. You are always welcome here," Orange said. There was a silence for a few seconds, but then Plum started to smile.

"Thanks, everyone," Plum said.

"Hey, don't mention it! Now let's finish our work here so we will not be late for the party, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Party? What party?" Plum asked.

"We're gonna have a welcome party for you!" Angel said.

"A party... for me?" Plum asked, not believing what she had just heard.

"Everybody deserves a warm welcome," Strawberry said, smiling.

Soon all of us finished tidying up and then we went to the clubhouse where the rest of the kids had prepared a welcome party. The party itself was a good one, but it could have been better if Plum hadn't mistakenly tripped and hit a table, destroying the cake the kids had made. During the party I learned that Plum was quite a clumsy girl that she often made mistakes left and right. But all in all every kids in Strawberryland were more than happy to have another friend.

One week later, something seemed weird. The berries in the fields seemed to have reduced in amount. The difference was not so significant though, so everyone agreed that some rabbits or squirrels or such might had eaten the berries. However, I still doubted it so I made a device to watch over the berry fields and brought it there. When I arrived, I met some kids who are Plum, Orange, Strawberry, and Blueberry.

"Hey, everyone," I greeted.

"Hi, Blackberry!" Strawberry greeted back, followed by the rest of the kids.

"What are you all doing here?" I asked.

"We are picking some berries for making cakes," Orange replied. "Strawberry is going to make a garden party tomorrow."

"It'll be a berry great party! I hope you can come!" Strawberry said.

"Uh... I'm here just to... take photos," Plum said, showing her camera which she had been hiding behind her back.

"Hey, what a nice camera you have there," I commented. "Can you take a picture of the four of us?"

"Um... Yeah, okay..." she said, and then the other kids stood in line. She then took a picture of us.

"When will we have the picture?" Blueberry asked.

"Umm... Tomorrow... I'll give you the picture tomorrow," Plum replied.

"Okay. By the way..." Blueberry said, looking at me. "I have been wondering what that thing is."

"Oh, this?" I said, showing the device I had been holding. "I'm sure you all remember my Eagle Eye, right?"

"Yes," Blueberry replied.

"I modified it so it can move around on its own," I replied. "This is so it can watch over the berry fields 24/7"

"Oh, like a... what was the name...? Surlev... Surf..." Blueberry said.

"Surveillance camera," Plum said.

"That's right! Wow... you sure know a lot of things," Blueberry said.

"Ah... No, not really..." Plum said timidly.

"Anyway, why do you want it to watch over the berry fields?" Blueberry asked me.

"I'm still curious about the decreasing of the berries' amount lately," I replied. "With this hopefully we can find out the cause."

"That's berry nice of you!" Strawberry said.

I then turned the device on and let it go. It moved in circles for a few seconds, and then it went away.

"Where is it going?" Plum asked.

"The berry fields are quite large, so I think it will need around five minutes to go around the fields," I said.

"Oh, how long it will last?" she asked again.

"Its energy comes from sunlight, so there's no problem," I replied. "While at night it will have enough energy in reserve to last until dawn."

"That means it really can watch over the berry fields 24/7 like you said, right?" she said.

"That's right. Although, there's one problem," I said, pausing for a moment. "If it rains at noon, the device won't have enough energy to last throughout the night. If that happens the device will automatically return to my house once the energy reaches critical level."

"I see..." Plum said.

The conversation between Plum and I continued for quite a while. Both of us were so into the conversation that we didn't realize that at a not-so-far distance the other three girls were looking at us in confusion. We didn't even hear their own conversation.

"Strawberry, do you understand what they are talking about?" Orange asked.

"Uhh... Not exactly... Not precisely..." Strawberry replied.

"Not at all," Blueberry said. "It seems they make a good couple, huh?"

"Huh? What couple?" Orange asked.

"A brainy four-eyed couple," Blueberry said, and the trio giggled.

"But now I'm berry glad that Blackberry now has a friend who can understand him more than us," Strawberry said.

"I second that," Blueberry said.

"Me too," Orange said.

Plum complimented me on how great my Eagle Eye was, but I said, "It's still not perfect. And now because it can see at night better than before, I renamed it into... Midnight Eye."

So, over the next few days Midnight Eye watched over the berry fields 24/7 like I had said. Every morning I checked the monitor on my working table if the satellite had seen anything suspicious. It hadn't found anything suspicious, but the amount of berries stayed the same so I was still not convinced.

One day, it rained hard at noon and the rain had been lasting for over three hours. I looked at the cloudy sky, thinking that the satellite would probably return to my house that night. I ran out of materials so I couldn't make a second satellite or anything else to overcome the situation. So, I had no choice other than hoping that the amount of berries would stay the same at the next day.

In the next morning, I woke up with worries in my head. Indeed I found the satellite lying on my working table. I then checked the monitor if there was anything suspicious caught on tape before the satellite had to retreat. I found nothing suspicious so I took the satellite and brought it with me to the berry fields. When I arrived there, I immediately turned the device on and threw it upwards. Then, I also walked around the fields to check if there was any berries missing.

My fear came out to be true. Some patches had lost quite an amount of berries. The thieves had stolen the berries right after the satellite had retreated. It was really a bad coincidence, so I decided to call the satellite and do a few settings. While I was setting the satellite up, some kids came. They were Apricot, Peppermint, Plum, and Lemon.

"Hey, what are you doing here? And what's that thing?" Peppermint asked.

"Oh, hi Peppermint, Apricot, Plum, and Lemon," I replied, then I repeated most things I had said to Plum the day before.

"Umm... what...?" Lemon asked, confused.

"That sounds... totally cool... I think..." Apricot said, seeming confused as well.

"Hmph, you've just made smokes to come out from my head, you know," Peppermint said.

"So, have you found the thief?" Plum asked.

"Bad coincidence, the thief stole some berries again after the satellite came back to my house last night," I said.

"Oh..." Plum said.

"So now I'm setting it to slow down to save energy the lower its battery gets instead of returning to me. Hopefully this time the thief will be caught in action," I said.

"I see, but how much slower?" she asked.

"Well, can't say for sure but maybe around twenty minutes for one cycle at night if it rains at noon again. Otherwise it stays the same," I replied.

"I see," Plum said. "Oh, here's the picture," she continued, taking something from her small bag and giving it to me.

"Picture? Oh, that picture," I said, taking the picture she had given.

Both of us didn't realize that the same thing happened again like a few days before. The other three girls had their conversation as Plum and I had ours, and both of us hadn't realized it.

"Hmph! That kid sure is weird, and the other kid is just as weird," Peppermint said.

"They are?" Lemon asked.

"Yeah, who else?" Peppermint replied. "But somehow I like his weirdness."

"Yeah, me too. Totally cool," Apricot said.

"Me too," Lemon said.

"But I still can't trust that girl," Peppermint said.

"Really? Why?" Apricot asked.

"There's something wrong with her. I can feel it," Peppermint replied.

"You can?" Lemon asked.

"Can you just stop asking like that every time? That's sorta annoying!" Peppermint said. "Yes, I can! And now I'm leaving!"

So, once again Midnight Eye patrolled the berry fields 24/7 without fail, until one day it rained again at noon. Like the previous rain, it lasted for around three hours so I was sure Midnight Eye would slow down at night. There was nothing I could do so I just went to sleep that night.

At the next morning, I checked the monitor to see if the berries have disappeared again. At first there was nothing wrong, but when it came to night time and the satellite slowed down, I was surprised that the amount of berries in one part of the field had reduced after one cycle of the satellite. That meant the thief took the berries while the satellite was away for its cycle.

"Now this is weird. It almost seems that the thief knows the gap in the satellite's watch," I thought. "Looks like I need to talk with Strawberry."

I then walked to Strawberry's house, still thinking about all possibilities that could happen. One thing came to my mind but I could not believe it so I tried to forget it. Later, I arrived at Strawberry's house and pressed the doorbell button. Soon, the door opened and I met Strawberry.

"Hi, Blackberry! It's nice that you came! Please come in!" She welcomed me.

"Thanks Strawberry," I said, walking into the house.

Inside the house, Strawberry offered me drinks and I accepted. Then I sat on her sofa and asked her to sit beside me. While each of us was holding a glass of juice, a conversation happened.

"The berries have disappeared again," I said, taking a sip.

"Really? Did you find the thief?" Strawberry asked.

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "Somehow the thief took the berries while my satellite wasn't watching."

"How come?" she asked.

"I don't know. It happened two times with different conditions and it seems like the thief knows the gap of the satellite's watch," I replied.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It seems the thief knows the right time when he can steal the berries without being seen by my satellite," I replied, taking another sip. "Midnight Eye is not perfect, but for the thief to exactly know its weakness even after I changed it..."

"Well... I don't exactly understand, not precisely..." she said, taking a sip. "But there must be a way. Don't give up now."

"Actually, I have one thing in mind," I said. "But you probably won't agree with me."

"What is it?" she asked.

"There's someone who knows and understands Midnight Eye's weakness, and I also told her the new weakness after I had changed it," I said. "Not to mention that the berries started to disappear after she came."

"No, Blackberry! Don't tell me that you suspect Plum Puddin'! She's our friend!" Strawberry said.

"That's why I said you probably won't agree with me," I said, taking the last sip. "Of course I don't want to suspect her, but the situation says otherwise."

"Well... maybe you're right..." she said, pausing for a moment. "But think of another possibility. Maybe the thief eavesdropped when you told Plum!"

"That's impossible. Midnight Eye would spot the thief right away because it was already on watch by that time," I replied. "Don't worry, Strawberry. I won't say anything about it to anyone else for now. I will look for evidence first."

"I hope the thief is really not Plum..." Strawberry said, lowering her head.

"Me too, Strawberry. Whatever evidence I will find, I hope it will prove that Plum is not the thief," I said.

Soon, I left Strawberry's house. Because I wanted to find the truth as soon as possible, I began my investigation on Plum immediately. I began by walking to her house to see if she was home. Once I arrived at her house, I pressed the doorbell button and waited. There was no response and the door was locked so I could say that she was not at home. However, just to make sure I replaced my glasses with Vision to look at the inside of Plum's house. I was surprised by what I saw next. Inside the house I saw Purple Pie Man handgagging Plum, and Sour Grapes standing next to them. Then, I noticed Purple Pie Man using body language to Sour Grapes, who seemed to understand and walked towards the door. I quickly took Blind Spot from my pocket and put it on my shirt just in time so she didn't notice me when she opened the door slightly and looked through it.

Once she returned back inside without forgetting to lock the door, I took Key Master and used it to open the lock. Then I opened the door slowly and walked in without making any noise. Purple Pie Man noticed the opening door but he didn't see me because Blind Spot worked perfectly to keep me invisible.

"Close the door, Sour Grapes!" Pie Man ordered, still handgagging Plum.

"I could have sworn I have locked the door!" Sour Grapes replied.

"But you didn't. Close the door now!" Pie Man said.

"Alright, alright," Sour Grapes replied with upset face, walking to the door and locked it again. After the door was locked, Pie Man released his hand from Plum's mouth.

"Okay now, kid! Do you have any new information?" Pie Man asked. There was no answer from Plum. "Answer me now!"

Plum kept silent, and that infuriated Pie Man even more.

"Do I have to remind you about your task?!" Pie Man said. "Your task is to spy on the kids, note their activities, and find the weaknesses I can use to my advantage so I can get all the berries in this land and get my factory!"

"But you didn't say that you would steal the berries every night!" Plum replied.

"Why should I tell you? I just wanted to take some myself for a start!" Pie man replied back. "But thanks to that meddling kid with his annoying device, I couldn't take the berries anymore!"

Plum kept silent, and so did Sour Grapes.

"However, now I want to see that kid's face when he knows his device is just a failure!" Pie Man said, followed with a laugh. "And that was thanks to you, for telling me that the device will go away at night if it rains at noon!"

"But..." Plum said, but she couldn't continue.

"Also thanks to you for telling me yesterday that the kid made the device to slow down at night instead of going away. Twenty minutes is more than enough for me to take some berries!" Pie Man said. "Now tell me your information!"

"I..." Plum said, and once again she couldn't continue.

"Do I have to remind you that we are cousins? We are families! Choose! Your family or those kids?!" Pie Man said.

Everything I saw and heard made everything clear to me. Pie Man had a plan to spy on every Strawberryland kids, and for that he used his own cousin who had just moved to Strawberryland. Sour Grapes had asked me that favor probably because in her heart she hadn't agreed on that plan and had wanted me to befriend and watch over Plum so there would be someone to keep her company in case she was found and shunned by other kids. My thought could be wrong, but I was very sure that both Plum and Sour Grapes actually didn't agree about this plan but they didn't have the heart to refuse.

I then took Inner Heart from my pocket and shot both Plum Puddin' and Sour Grapes with it. All I could do next was just hope.

"I... I don't want to do this!" Plum said.

"What? So you choose those kids rather than your own family?!" Pie man said, seeming infuriated.

"No! I love you, cousin. That's why I told you about that surveillance satellite, because I didn't want you to get caught," Plum said, starting to sound determined. "But I cannot betray them! They are the first friends I have who still like me, even though they know how careless I am!"

Pie Man was silent, seeming surprised by Plum's reply.

"I love you, cousin, I really do. But please, just this once, love me back and leave me alone to be their friends for real, not their spy!" Plum said with tears leaking.

"You...!" Pie Man said, even more infuriated than before.

"She's right!" Sour Grapes suddenly said. "I can no longer agree to this anymore!"

"Sour Grapes! Now you're against me too?!" Pie Man said, still looking upset.

"Yes! Just because I no longer wanted to help you, you used her instead! Do you remember how I used to be the same like her, having no friends at all because they thought I was weird? Now she is so close to avoiding that same fate and you're going to ruin it?! Where's the loving brother I used to know, who kept me company when I was alone?!" Sour Grapes replied with her arms on her hip.

There was a silence for a few seconds. Pie Man still seemed upset.

"All right! Here's a deal! Forget this plan altogether, and I will help you again in any of your future plans, forever!" Sour Grapes said.

Hearing Sour Grapes' sentence surprised Pie Man quite much. He then thought about it for a moment and a few minutes later he turned his back towards the other two.

"Are you coming or not... Sour Grapes?! I have just got an idea, a plan, much better than this! Let's go now and put it into practice!" Pie Man said, then he immediately left the house.

"I'm sorry... Now you have to help him again... because of me" Plum said, and then Sour Grapes kneeled in front of her and smiled.

"No. I'm sorry, for making you to do all those. I should have refused his plan from the beginning," Sour Grapes said.

"Are you going to be fine?" Plum asked.

"I will be fine. Don't worry about me. Now go and enjoy your new life with your friends," Sour Grapes said, and the two had a big hug.

"Is he going to steal more berries with his new plan?" Plum asked as Sour Grapes stood up.

"The way he said it seems more like he actually doesn't have any plan at all, and he won't have any for quite a long time," Sour Grapes said, giving a wink.

"Sour Grapes! Are you coming or not!" Pie Man's voice could be heard from outside.

"Time to go. Goodbye, dear," Sour Grapes said, walking to the front door and waving her hand to Plum.

"Love you, cousin. Bye!" Plum said as Sour Grapes left the house.

I also left the house immediately because Blind Spot started to lose its effect and I didn't want anyone to know that I had heard everything. Later, I met Strawberry at the berry fields when she was collecting some.

"Hi, Strawberry," I greeted.

"Hi, Blackberry!" Strawberry greeted back.

"I found out who the thief is," I said, and she suddenly paused. I could see that she started to worry about what I would say next.

"Really...? Who...?" she asked.

"As we have agreed before, the thieves were really just some animals. I have been worrying too much," I lied, and I could see Strawberry being so relieved. Did this count as a "White Lie"?

-End of Chapter 31-


	36. Final Chapter, Part 1

Final Chapter Part 1: Limit in The Sky

One night, I was lying down on the rooftop of my house to see the stars above. There were no clouds and it was still crescent moon so I could see quite a clear view of all the stars. It was a very beautiful view that I felt like staying there all the night. Looking at the stars, I began to wonder about the outer space and all things over there. What things could possibly exist out there? What kinds of planets could I find? I then got the idea of making a vehicle capable of going to outer space, but I immediately casted it aside because the bitter memories about the old Falcon came back to me.

I had never told anyone before, but at first I hadn't intended to make Falcon a flying car. I had meant it to be a spaceship to go to outer space, but no matter how hard I had tried, the engine had always stopped working after reaching a certain height. Because of that, I had decided to make it a flying car instead. Even though of that, Falcon had ended up nearly unusable because of various problems I still hadn't known about back then. Thanks to the trip to the Land of Dreams, my Falcon had became the Falcon I still used until then.

After having those thoughts about the past, I decided to walk around Strawberryland at night. Of course I started with Huckleberry Briar, which was a little bit scary at night, but I didn't feel scared that much. The next stop was Cakewalk, which was very quiet and dim. It was already over bedtime so I assumed that Angel Cake was already asleep. The same with Ginger Snap when I walked past her house, but then as I came closer to Strawberry's house, I started to hear someone singing. I recognized the voice as Strawberry's voice and walked closer to hear the song more clearly. Once i got a clear hearing of the song, I sat down leaning behind her fence so she wouldn't notice me.

_Tell me a story of a land full of horses, playing fun horsey games_  
_Castles that float in the sky _  
_Or magical horses with wings on their backs _  
_Who takes us away as they fly_

_Tell me a story, just once more _  
_Turn off the light, and stand by the door _  
_And say "I love you" and kiss me goodnight _  
_Tell me a story _  
_I need a story _  
_Any old story _  
_As long as it's told by you..._

Hearing her singing that song somehow made me feel something weird deep inside my heart. The song felt like she had a desire for parents, which none of us had. The question that had occupied my mind once came again, and without realizing it, some tears dropped from my eyes. Eventually I noticed it and quickly wiped the tears from my face. Then I approached Strawberry, who was still sitting by the door of her house. Both of her pets were sound asleep by her.

"Hi, Strawberry," I greeted.

"Oh, hi, Blackberry," she greeted back.

"Can't sleep?" I asked.

"Not really," she replied. "What about you?"

"I just wanted to walk around at night," I replied. "By the way, the song you just sang..."

"You heard it?" she asked.

"Yeah, some of it. It was really an enchanting song. Truthfully, I dropped some tears hearing it," I replied, sitting next to her while still giving enough room for Pupcake.

"Oh..." she said.

"You know, all of us have been having a lot of fun together. So much fun, that we have been forgetting a question," I said.

"What question?" she asked.

"Have you ever wondered why we are here, without someone who takes care of us? Without someone who loves us? Without someone who... tells us bedtime stories?" I said.

"Well, now that you mention it..." she said with a brief pause. "I wonder about that too."

"You know, I also have another question," I said. "It's about your sister."

"Apple Dumplin'? What question?" she asked.

"I once saw her coming from a giant flower which had fallen from the sky. What was that actually?" I asked.

"I..." she said with a pause. "I just... don't know..."

"You don't know? Nothing at all?" I asked.

"That was the berry first time I met her," she replied. "I don't know much."

"What? That was the first time? Then how did you know that she was your sister and that the day was her first birthday?" I asked. I was very curious.

"I don't know..." she replied, pausing again. "I just... knew all those."

"You just... knew? You mean, the knowledge just got into your head out of nowhere?" I said, and she replied with a nod. "That's quite strange..."

"Yeah, but it didn't really matter to me back then," she said.

"Do you know what happened to the flower then?" I asked.

"It is no longer there. It has returned to the ground since a berry long time ago," she answered.

"I see..." I said, looking to the stars and the crescent moon above. I then decided to leave the question and change the topic. "So far away..."

"What did you just say?" she asked.

"The stars. It's a long way out there..." I said.

"Umm... yes it sure is," she said, seeming confused that I suddenly changed the topic.

"I wonder if I can ever go to those stars someday," I said. "With a spaceship or something..."

"If you keep believing that you can do it, then I think you can," she said.

"Well... I don't know," I said, followed by a pause. "I have tried, but I have never made it come true. So I gave up and made a flying car instead."

"I don't know much about spaceship or flying cars, but I do know this, Blackberry," she said. "Dreams are one thing you can't give up on."

"Do you think so...?" I said, still looking at the stars above.

"Yes, I believe you can," she replied. "I'll give you a deal. You don't give up on your dream, and I won't give up on mine. We will make them come true, one step at a time."

"Thanks, Strawberry," I said. "I think I will go home now. It's really over bed time now."

"See you tomorrow, Blackberry," she said as I stood up and walked away waving my hand to her.

At the next day, motivated by Strawberry's words from the previous day, I started the old abandoned project once again. First, I tried piloting Falcon as high as it could be to see if the problem still existed. It turned out that it still did because suddenly Falcon's engine died. However, after falling some height I was able to start the engine again so I didn't have to use the emergency parachute. Once I got home again, I wondered what the cause of the problem was. Falcon's engine did not need air to run so thinner atmosphere should have not been the cause. I then looked at the spot where Blackbird was parked and wondered if I could use Blackbird's high speed to go through the height.

I decided that using Blackbird was not a good idea because there was a risk that after the engine died the remaining speed would probably bring me to outer space for real, and if I couldn't start the engine again I would be trapped in space forever. So, I modified Midnight Eye's satellite to become a miniature of Blackbird which had the exact same functions as the real one. The mini Blackbird could be controlled by the old Eagle Eye's controller so I could fly it while still staying in my house.

I then launched the mini Blackbird to the sky and controlled it to fly upwards at full speed. There was no problem seen in the monitor, and as expected the engine died soon after. Its speed kept it moving upwards, but then a strange thing happened. The mini Blackbird's speed decreased abnormally fast that it came into a complete stop just a few seconds later. Then, it immediately started to fall down with an abnormally high acceleration. Soon, I was able to start the engine again so I could control it to fly back to my home safely, but what had just happened had left a big question for me. What had just happened actually?

No matter how hard I thought about the things that just happened, the only conclusion that I could came up with was that there was some kind of invisible force field covering the whole planet. At first the force field disabled the engine of any vehicle that came within its area, then if the vehicle's remaining speed kept bringing it up, the force field pushed the vehicle down with increasing strength the higher the vehicle went. That thought didn't make much sense. If that thought was true, then who had made that force field? What was the purpose? How could I get through it? All those thoughts gave me quite a headache so I decided to call it off for then and go for a walk around Strawberryland.

I then stopped by a small river near the outfield and sat down on the ground near the river's edge. I then picked up a stone and threw it to the river. The stone fell into the river and sank, and then I lied down with a sigh.

"Hey, Blackberry. Having fun?" a voice I recognized asked.

"Not really, Huck. I'm kinda stressful today," I replied, still lying down.

"What's the matter?" he asked, sitting down next to me.

"Something got in my way, while I was chasing my dream," I replied.

"Really? You couldn't get through it?" he asked.

"I tried, but it kept pushing me back no matter how hard I tried," I replied. "Now I kinda want to give up..."

"You can't give up just like that!" he said. "There must be a way!"

"I'm not sure about that," I said.

"Keep trying! You can do it! Just believe in yourself that you can!" he said, trying to encourage me.

"That's what I have been doing, but as you can see..." I said. There was a brief pause until I continued. "But don't worry. I won't give up. I've already promised that to Strawberry."

"Promise what?" he asked.

"I don't give up on my dream, and she won't give up on hers. That's all," I replied.

"I see," he said. "Hey, I don't know what your obstacle is, but if you can't get through it, there's always another way."

"Well, I'm not sure," I said.

"Like this river. How can you get to the other side?" he asked.

"Well, I can use the bridge over there," I replied, looking at a bridge some distance away.

"That's one. You also can swim through it or find a place where the river is not too wide and then jump over it," he said.

"Maybe you're right..." I said, then I noticed something. "Wait! What did you say?" I asked, getting up into sitting position suddenly.

"Uh... swim through it?" he asked.

"Nonono, after that!" I said, shaking my head.

"Uh... find a place where the river is not too wide..." he said.

"Yes, and then?" I asked again with my hands on his shoulders.

"Jump over it..." he answered with confused face.

"Jump over it... Yes, if I can't get through it I can jump over it!" I said with excitement. "Thanks, Huck! You're my savior!"

"Uh... no problem," he replied as I ran back home. I was so excited that I got impatient, taking Time Remote Mark II from my pocket and using its dimension door to go home. When I arrived, I immediately went to my working table and started to put the idea into a real thing.

Not too long after, I came out from my house bringing a miniature vehicle similar to mini Blackbird and also a remote control for it. Right at that moment, Huck came to me.

"Hey, Blackberry," he greeted.

"Hi, Huck. What brings you here?" I asked.

"Well, I'm kinda curious about the idea you got from me," he replied. "But if you don't want me to see it I'll go."

"No, I don't mind at all. Be my guest," I said.

"What is that thing you're carrying?" he asked.

"This, is the realization of the idea you gave to me," I answered.

"That toy...?" he asked.

"Not really a toy. This is the miniature of what I will make later. This is just for testing," I replied, putting the mini vehicle on the ground.

"You're going to make another flying car?" he asked.

"Yes, but this one will be able to go to outer space," I said.

"Whoa, that's great," he said.

"Ok, stand near me. I'm going to start it," I said, activating the remote control I have been holding.

Soon, the miniature vehicle started to float. I then controlled it to fly around the area and do some acrobatic moves. All went well for a while, but the real test was just about to begin.

"How is it going?" Huck asked.

"So far so good. But now I'm going to begin the real test," I replied.

I pressed a button on the remote, and then the mini vehicle emitted a bright light. It then disappeared and one second later reappeared at some distance forward. At first I was excited to know that I succeeded, but soon the mini vehicle's engine exploded and it then fell down, hitting the ground hard.

"Oh well, there goes my dream," I said, walking to the remains of the mini vehicle.

"You're not going to give up, are you?" Huck asked, following me.

"Like I said before, I will never give up," I said, picking up the remains. "But truth to be told, failure after failure will eventually get stressful and I'm not sure if I will be able to endure."

"Well, I have had an experience like that before," he said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, that day I was learning a new skateboard trick. Man, that trick was sure a hard one. I kept falling and failing to do it," he said.

"And then...?" I asked.

"Indeed it was stressful, but everytime I failed, I told myself 'It is a new chance to try again, this time more wisely!' and tried again," he said.

"Did you succeed?" I asked.

"Yes, of course! Now I can do that trick easily! Just remember this, Blackberry: Never be afraid to try again. You will never score a goal if you stop to shoot," he said with his hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks, Huck," I said.

"By the way, why does the new car need an ability to teleport like that? I thought you could just keep flying up until you get to the space," he asked.

"Hmm, let's just say that there's a limit in the sky, and instead of going through the limit I will jump over it," I replied, unofficially naming the force field as Limit in The Sky.

The next few days were spent studying over the failure that had happened. It took quite a lot of energy and effort, but in the end I came up with an idea to overcome the problem. Soon, I made another mini vehicle and tested it outside. Like the previous mini vehicle, all went well at first. I then pressed one button on the remote, and the mini vehicle shot a wave of electricity which made a mini dimension door right in front of it. The mini vehicle then entered the dimension door and one second later another dimension door appeared at some distance forward. The mini vehicle then came out from it and continued to fly smoothly.

"One step closer to my dream," I said, controlling the mini vehicle to land next to me.

After that, I took Replicator and used it to copy Blackbird. I then modified the copy to function precisely the same as the mini vehicle I had just tested. The result which came two days later was a new vehicle with a different look than the other two vehicles. If Falcon looked like a car and Blackbird looked like a fusion of a car and a plane, the new vehicle looked similar to futuristic planes I had seen in some books.

"Welcome... Albatross," I said, giving the new silver colored vehicle a name.

It was great to see Albatross ready to bring me to outer space. After a very long time, my dream finally came close to reality. Not to mention that Albatross had six additional seats for passengers so I would be able to share the realization of my dream with my friends. However, there was still one last problem for Albatross. Unlike Falcon and Blackbird, Albatross did not have any float engine so it would need a long runway, which was not an easy thing to find in Strawberryland. While I was still pondering over the problem, Ginger Snap came to me.

"Hi, Blackberry! How are you today, huh? I guess you are all right, am I right?" she asked.

"I'm just fine," I replied.

"Woohoo! I was sooo right! You see, none of us have seen you over the last few days. Nope, not ever! So, I thought of giving you a visit to see what you have been doing that none of us have seen you over the last few days. So, what is it, huh Blackberry?" she asked again.

"That," I replied, pointing at Albatross.

"Whoa, what is this? It looks like a plane, am I right?" she said.

"This is Albatross. It is a spaceship which I have been making over the last few days," I said.

"Spaceship? You mean, a vehicle to go to up there? To the outer space and the stars above?" she asked.

"Yes it is," I said.

"Whoa, why don't you fly it right away, huh Blackberry? I guess there is still one or two or three problems, am I right?" she said.

"Yeah, that's right," I said, then I told her about Albatross' problem.

"A runway huh?" she said, thinking. "I got it! Leave it to me for the runway! Just bring this plane to the outfield now, okay?"

After saying those words, she left without giving me a chance to say anything. I wondered how she would provide a runway in the outfield because I knew that there wasn't any flat surface long enough for Albatross to gain speed and fly over there. Also, she didn't know that bringing Albatross to the outfield was not an easy thing to do. I still could drive it like a normal car, but there wasn't any road wide enough for it to go through towards the outfield. While I was still thinking, Huck came.

"Hey, Blackberry," he greeted.

"Hey, Huck," I replied, still thinking.

"Ginger Snap went past my fort talking about making a runway for you, so I thought of coming here to see," he said.

"And now you see it," I said, then I told him what had happened before and also the problem I was still thinking about.

"Hmm, did you forget what I had said?" he asked.

"About what?" I asked back.

"About the ways to get past an obstacle," he replied.

"I remember. Like a river, to get past it I can use a bridge, swim across, or jump over it... Oh, you mean..." I said, realizing something.

"Yeah, I think maybe you can use the new car's ability to teleport to the outfield," he said.

"I thought of that too, but Albatross can only do that while flying," I said.

"Then how about your remote?" he asked.

"Time Remote II you mean? The dimension door it makes is not large enough for Albatross to go through," I replied.

"Then how about this?" he said, taking something from his pocket. I immediately noticed it as Ginger's Dimension Door Remote.

"Ginger's remote? Why do you have it now?" I asked

"I borrowed this last Christmas to invite special guests, and I forgot to return it," he replied.

"Special guests...? So you were the one who brought those... unique kids?" I asked, remembering the strangers I had seen. One of them could transform into a dragon, another could transform into weird creatures, and another could transform into a ghostly form.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect them to be that special..." he said with his right hand behind his head and chuckling.

"Anyway, I think this remote can work, although I'm not so sure," I said. "But let's try it anyway, rather than not doing anything while Ginger is over there waiting for me."

I then took the remote from Huck, gave him a few instructions, walked some distance in front of Albatross, typed the destination, and threw the remote upwards towards Huck, who was standing a few meters in front of me. After he caught it he brought the remote to me while keeping it close to the ground. As expected, those movements ended up drawing a large not-so-circular trail, creating a dimension door large enough for Albatross to enter.

"All right!" Huck said in excitement.

"Let's go quickly before it disappears," I said.

Both of us then entered Albatross. I then started its engine and drove it towards the dimension door. We knew that we ended up at the place we had wanted because we saw Ginger Snap working on building the runway she had promised.

"Hey, Ginger! Do you need some help?" I asked as I got off Albatross.

"Nope! I'm all done!" she answered, giving the last hammer drop. "Here's The Amazing Runway, made just for you!"

I looked at the runway she had made and noticed that she had made it using the same material for the skateboard track everyone had used in the Strawberryland Games. Soon, I got surprised and confused seeing that the other end of the runway was curved upwards.

"The other end is... curved?" I asked.

"Yep! You can just let your plane run and the runway will make your plane fly! Great idea, am I right?" she said.

"Well..." I said, making calculations in my head. "Yes, that can work. Didn't think about that."

"See? That's why it's amazing, am I right?" she said. Right after that, all other kids from the main five came to the place. They came because they had heard a lot of noise of hammering, and wanted to know what was going on. It didn't took long for me to explain everything.

"I can carry six more people with me, so I want to invite you all to come along with me in this trip," I said.

"That's berry nice of you, Blackberry! I'll go with you!" Strawberry said.

"Me too," Orange said.

"Count me in as well, will ya?" Ginger said.

"Yeah, me too," Angel said.

"I'm in as well," Huck said. "But what about the sixth?"

"Well, we can just go with five extra passengers," I said. "Or we can wait a little and take the first person who come here next."

Right after I said those lines, we all heard something.

"Hey, what are you doing here, and what is this... weird thing?" a voice we all knew as Peppermint asked.

"That's the one," I said, and everyone nodded.

"Hey, nobody's going to explain to me?" Peppermint asked again, and I explained everything to her, including the invitation.

"What? A trip to outer space... with this thing? You must be kidding!" she said.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"It sorta... doesn't look safe," she replied.

"Don't worry, you can count on me," I said.

"You said that line as well, before we got stranded at the South Pole for days," she said, reminding me of what happened to Blackbird at its first flight.

"Well... Umm..." I said, being speechless.

"Okay, I'll go with you," she said, surprising the rest of us. "No matter what, a trip with you is always interesting."

Because it had been settled, all seven of us got on Albatross and sat on the seats. As I was preparing to start the engine, Peppermint asked from behind.

"By the way, Blackberry, I remember how hard your other car pressed me to the seat. I'm sorta worried it will become worse with this..." she said.

"Don't worry. I put a gravity field around the seats. We won't feel a thing," I answered, starting the engine. "Everyone ready?"

I heard a huge "Yes!" from everyone behind me, and started moving Albatross to the beginning of Ginger's runway. There was a brief pause before Albatross accelerated fast towards the curve at the end. The gravity field I had mentioned worked perfectly because none of us felt the pressure of the acceleration. Soon, Albatross climbed the runway's curve and finally left the ground. I immediately increased the engine's power to further accelerate towards the sky, and still none of us felt any pressure.

"The limit in the sky is near..." I said with low voice. Nobody heard it.

I then pressed one button on the control panel, and Albatross immediately shot a wave of electricity forward, creating a dimension door which we soon entered. Soon, we were out from the dimension door and the thing we saw next was a beautiful scenery of outer space with sparkling stars, the sun far away, and our planet beneath.

"Berry beautiful..." Strawberry said.

"Amazing huh?" Ginger said.

"This is awesome," Huck said.

"Apple Dumplin' like," a familiar voice said, which surprised all of us. We all looked towards the back and saw Apple who possibly had been hiding behind the back seat. Nobody knew when she sneaked into Albatross.

"Apple Dumplin', why are you here?" Strawberry asked.

"Apple Dumplin' like Blackberry new car," Apple replied.

"Apple, this is not a car. It could have been dangerous for you," Strawberry said.

"Glad the gravity field worked..." I said, again with low voice. "Anyway, now that she is here, Strawberry, can you let her sit on your lap?"

Strawberry agreed, and soon we had enjoyment in our trip to outer space. However...

"Hey, Blackberry. Why are we going home so soon?" Huck asked, which made me wonder.

"Huh? Why did you ask that?" I asked back.

"I saw your dimension door over there, so I thought..." he replied, pointing to the right side. I looked there and indeed there was something there, very similar to the dimension door I had been using. Then, as the thing slowly came nearer, something struck my mind. That thing was not a good thing at all.

"It's not a dimension door... It's Black Hole!" I said, starting to rush Albatross away from the thing. However, the engine went off. It seemed that it had been disabled because I couldn't start it again. Soon, the Black Hole pulled Albatross into its center. All of us screamed, but there was nobody to hear our scream besides ourselves.

_So..._  
_Albatross... Along with all passangers inside..._  
_Was left drifting..._  
_In an unknown space..._  
_With nothing but darkness..._

_Everyone were unconscious..._  
_I myself was not, but..._  
_What could I do...?_  
_There was nothing to do..._  
_Nothing at all..._  
_Nothing around us..._  
_Everything was dark..._  
_With only a little glimpse of light far away..._

_..._

_..._

_Wait... Light...?_

-To be continued-


	37. Final Chapter, Part 2

Final Chapter Part 2: New Land, New Adventure

_Light..._  
_A small glimpse of light..._  
_Is that light... a star...?_  
_Or... Just a hallucination...?_  
_Or perhaps... a light of hope...?_

"Either way, this is better than doing nothing," I said, getting back to my full consciousnes. Everyone else were still unconscious, probably because of the shock and fear which had happened. I then looked at the purple button at the far corner of the control panel. Albatross' engine still couldn't be started in the unknown space, so the only option available was the button I had made on nearly all of my devices.

Without any second thought, I pressed the button. Soon, large jet flames came out from Albatross' rear and it accelerated with astronomical rate. The acceleration was so intense that I could feel the pressure, despite the still-working gravity field. As I struggled to maintain control of Albatross, the glimpse of light grew larger and larger until everything was covered by bright light.

When I regained vision, I saw that we were back to space. I looked to the rear and saw that we had come out from a vortex similar to the Black Hole, but the color of the vortex was white.

"Came in into Black Hole, and came out from... White Hole?" I thought. "Kinda... strange..."

Soon, the overcharge ended and the engine stopped, leaving Albatross gliding in space. The planet I knew was in sight though, so the situation was not that grave. Soon, everybody else started to wake up one by one.

"Where are we...?" Angel asked.

"What happened...? Orange asked.

"Are you all right, Apple Dumplin'?" Strawberry asked Apple.

"Apple Dumplin' scared..." Apple replied.

"Hey Blackberry. I thought we have been sucked by... what was the name... Black Hole?" Huck asked.

"We managed to escape from it," I replied.

"What? I have read that anything which enters Black Hole will never come out again. Nope, not ever!" Ginger said. "Does that mean we are the first ones who escaped from Black Hole, huh Blackberry?"

"Maybe..." I replied.

"Well, now I think I can sorta count on you," Peppermint said, but a few seconds later Albatross' engine exploded because of the overcharge. "Hmph, I take back my words."

"What happened?" Huck asked.

"The engine blew up," I replied. "I believe everyone knows that it always happen if I overcharge the engine."

"How can you be so calm now?!" Angel shouted. "This is gonna cost us our lives!"

"Hey, I learn from my mistake," I replied. "This time, I have put reserve engine in case of this."

After saying those, I started Albatross' reserve engine which was located under the main engine, and piloted the ship towards the planet. Everyone were calm again and I was glad nothing really bad happened to us. However, soon I noticed something weird as Albatross flew closer to the atmosphere of the planet. The Limit in The Sky was not there. That gave me a bad feeling but I had no idea whether I should tell everyone else or not. While I was pondering, suddenly Albatross' reserve engine blew up.

"Why that one blew up too?!" Strawberry asked in panic.

"Apple scared..." Apple said, hugging Strawberry and leaking tears.

"I have no idea, but I promise none of us will get hurt," I said.

Even though I had said those, I myself was not sure if we would be able to survive the fall unhurt. Maintaining control of falling Albatross was easier said than done. As it fell through the clouds, I struggled to keep its balance. Soon, we passed the clouds and we saw a small village we had never seen before. Albatross fell directly towards the village so I had no choice other than doing an emergency landing right in the middle of that village.

"Everybody, brace yourselves!" I shouted as Albatross came closer to the ground. Soon, it touched the ground and drifted sideways with hard friction. Not long after, it finally came to a complete stop.

"Get out of here now! It might blow up again soon!" I shouted, opening the hatch. All of us quickly jumped out from Albatross, I was the last, and ran as far as possible from it. Albatross didn't explode like I had feared, but looking at its shape and also the thick black smokes coming out from it, it was assured that Albatross was no more.

"Where are we now?" Orange asked.

"I don't know. I have never seen this place before," I said.

"How can we get back home?" Angel asked, but before I could give any answer, someone shouted at us.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" the voice shouted. We looked towards the source and got surprised. The voice came from someone who looked like a witch, but the more surprising thing was that the witch was very similar to Sour Grapes.

"Sour Grapes?" Orange said, wondering.

"Who is Sour Grapes? I am Gladys and I don't know any Sour Grapes. Now answer my question!" the witch said.

"Well, we are travellers and we had an accident," I said.

"Aww, poor you..." the witch said. "I will give you all a shelter."

"Really? Thanks!" Huck said.

"Yes, I will give a nice shelter... in the dungeon!" the witch said, pointing her crescent moon wand to the side. A green lightning came out from it and hit a door which immediately opened. We immediately realized that we have just met a wicked witch instead of a nice one.

"What if we refuse?" Peppermint asked, challenging the witch.

"Oh no you can't!" the witch said, pointing her wand towards us. The same green lightning came out and hit us all. Immediately after, all of us were magically lifted from the ground, unable to move. "Now go into the dungeon and spend the rest of your life there!"

With a wicked laugh, the witch moved her wand to point towards the dungeon door, and all of us started to float towards it. There was nothing we could do. However, the witch noticed something.

"Wait! You!" she said, pointing her wand. Strawberry stopped to float while the rest of us kept floating into the dungeon. Once the last person entered, the dungeon door shut itself, leaving all of us except Strawberry trapped inside.

Outside, the witch had taken the float spell away from Strawberry. Through the dungeon bars, we could see her standing, facing the witch.

"You have something that I want! Come with me!" the witch said.

"..." Strawberry was silent, looking at us.

"What? Worried about your friends?" the witch asked.

"Please, let them go," Strawberry said.

"Alright, I will promise this," the witch said. "Now you come with me, and once I'm done with you I will release you and your friends."

"Will you keep your promise?" Strawberry asked.

"Yes! So, are you coming with me?" the witch asked back.

Strawberry replied with a weak nod, and soon the witch put the float spell on Strawberry again. Soon, the witch left riding a winged monkey, carrying Strawberry with her.

"I can't believe it!" Huck shouted, hitting the dungeon door with his fist. "What is that witch going to do to Strawberry?!"

Inside the dungeon, the condition was not good at all. Apple kept crying because she was so worried about her big sister. Angel and Orange sat by her side, trying to calm her down with no success. The rest, including me, were talking about how to get out of there.

"Hey, you have that key right?" Peppermint asked me.

"You mean Key Master? I tried it while we were watching Strawberry. It seems the door is locked by magic, so it was no good," I replied.

"How about your dimension door?" Huck asked.

"Well..." I said, taking Time Remote II from my pocket. "Outside this dungeon."

Instead of making a dimension door, the remote vibrated hard and covered itself in electricity waves. I threw it to the corner of the dungeon just a few seconds before it blew up with quite an amount of black smoke.

"Looks like the Black Hole has broken it," I said.

"That means, this too?" Huck asked, taking Ginger's remote from his pocket.

"Hey, isn't that my Amazing Dimension Door Remote?" Ginger asked.

"Yeah, I was going to return this to you today," Huck replied.

"Let me try..." I said, asking Huck to give the remote to me. I then typed the words "Outside dungeon" and then the remote met its demise like my remote. "No good," I said.

"Don't you have any other things?" Peppermint asked.

"Well, let's see..." I replied, searching inside my pocket. "I have Key Master, Inner Heart, Paraplu, and Vision."

"That's all, huh Blackberry?" Ginger asked, looking at the four devices I had put on the floor.

"That's all," I replied.

"Oh, I should have stayed home..." Peppermint said. "This is not good at all."

"We have to find a way out of here fast or that witch will do something bad to Strawberry!" Huck said, quite panicked.

"And it's your fault for bringing us all here!" Peppermint said, pointing at me.

"Hey, we can't blame him! It was not his fault that Black Hole sucked us, am I right?" Ginger said, defending me.

"Stop it, everybody!" she shouted, and everyone suddenly fell silent. "Please, we have to be calm."

"Yeah... you're right," I said.

"All of us panicked and couldn't think clearly," Huck said.

"Not to mention that we are all tired from our disastrous trip," I said. "Let's get some rest first. After that, we can start thinking of a way to get out of here."

Everyone agreed to my suggestion and went to get some sleep. However, I was so worried about Strawberry that I couldn't sleep, so I just pretended to sleep. That being said, I eventually fell asleep for real because of the fatigue I had gotten.

Later, nightfall came and all of us were asleep. There was no lighting inside the dungeon so the only visible thing there was the moonlight from outside coming through the bars of the dungeon door. Suddenly, the door opened by itself, waking all of us up. We saw a shadowy figure coming into the dungeon. It was not the witch, because the silhouette was clearly different.

"You're not the witch... who are you?" I asked.

"First, let's brighten up a bit," the figure replied, waving a wand. Immediately, a few balls of light came out from it and floated around the ceiling. Those balls illuminated the whole room, enabling us to see the figure. Once again, we were surprised. The figure was apparently very similar to Plum Puddin', but taller and older.

"Plum Puddin'?" Angel asked.

"Who is Plum Puddin'? My name is Glinda and I don't know any Plum Puddin'," The figure replied.

"Are you... a witch too? Like Gladys?" Orange asked.

"Yes, I'm a witch. A good witch," Glinda answered. "And to tell the truth... Gladys is my sister."

"You are her sister? Then, do you know where she took Strawberry?" I asked.

"Sorry, I don't know what your problem is. I was just told that Gladys had taken prisoners here, and I'm here to release you all," Glinda said.

"Before putting us here, she said that Strawberry had something she wanted," I said.

"And then that mean witch took Strawberry with her to who knows where, am I right?" Ginger said.

"So she has taken your friend..." Glinda said, thinking.

"Do you know what might be the thing she wanted from Strawberry?" Huck asked.

"Well..." Glinda said with a brief pause. "I know that she was frustated because she was so close in making a legendary potion, but she lacked one ingredient. She once said that she needed a redhead."

"Redhead? Strawberry is a redhead. Don't tell me she is going to use Strawberry as the last ingredient. Yeah right..." Peppermint said.

"Wow, that means the mean witch is going to throw Strawberry into a boiling cauldron like I have seen in many fairy tales. Yep, she sure will," Ginger said.

"Strawberry... boil...?" Apple said, starting to leak tears again.

"We can't let that happen!" Angel said.

"We must stop her!" Orange said.  
"Please, take us to where she is now before she harms Strawberry!" Huck said.

"She lives in a small castle to the West," Glinda said. "I can take you there but..."

"We can't waste time. Just do it now!" Peppermint said.

"Oh, okay..." Glinda said, and she waved her wand. Green dust came out from it and surrounded all of us. When the dust cleared, we were already on an open field of grass with a small castle visible not so far from us.

"This is the closest I can take you," Glinda said.

"We can't waste time searching inside that castle. Do you know where she is holding Strawberry in there?" I asked.

"If she is really going to use your friend to make a potion, she should be in the b..." Glinda replied, before suddenly a water balloon fell from above and hit her. Right after that, she turned into stone. All of us gasped and looked above, only to see the winged monkey we had seen before attacking us by throwing water balloons filled by some kind of petrification potion.

"Quick! Come close to me!" I shouted, quickly taking Paraplu from my pocket and throwing it upwards. A light barrier formed and protected us from the attack.

"Glad that you have this," Huck said.

"But we're not gonna enter the castle if we just stand here!" Angel said.

"Nobody reminded me to make it mobile..." I thought in my mind, looking at the winged monkey above. It seemed to have noticed the barrier so it stopped throwing the potions, but it kept watching us with quite an amount of water balloons ready in its grip.

"Come on, think think think..." Ginger said, walking around in circles. Then she snapped her finger. "I've got an idea!"

Ginger then told us her idea and everyone agreed that it was worth a try.

"Okay, on the countdown," I said, preparing to deactivate Paraplu. "Three... two... one... GO!"

I then deactivated Paraplu and started running as fast as I could. As planned, everyone ran in different directions and that successfully confused the monkey. However, the monkey was quite smart that it started to chase one target, which was me. I was lucky that it missed two throws, but I didn't think it will miss the third time. While still running, I got an idea that was quite a gamble, but still worth trying than only running. I then took the deactivated Paraplu from my pocket and threw it upwards while still running. I still kept running for a few seconds until I looked back and saw that the monkey has been stuck inside Paraplu's barrier.

"Jackpot," I said while catching my breath.

"Wow, what happened?" Huck asked as he came close to me.

"Paraplu's barrier is made to block any water from either direction. I remembered that living creatures consist of 75% water inside so it can be used like this," I answered.

"Well, I don't understand much, but it's great that you could think of this," he said.

"We have no time to waste. Let's meet the others and enter the castle," I said.

Soon, we met the others and walked towards the castle. When we got closer, we saw the petrified Glinda we had almost forgotten.

"What about Glinda...?" Angel asked.

"Well..." Ginger said. "I have no idea. Nope, not at all."

"Don't worry about me," a voice was heard, and immediately with a flash of light Glinda came back to her normal self.

"Glinda!" Orange said, coming to hug Glinda.

"That petrification potion only lasts for five minutes," Glinda said while receiving a hug from Orange. "But still, I can't accompany you inside."

"Why not?" Angel asked.

"Gladys and I have promised each other that none of us will enter the castle of the other. I have to keep that promise," Glinda replied.

"In times like this?" Peppermint said. "Come on! Someone's life is in danger and you insist on keeping a promise your sister will probably break anyway?!"

"Please don't say that," Glinda said. "Gladys might be a wicked witch, but she always keeps her words."

"Are you sure about that?" Peppermint asked again.

"Well..." Glinda replied, seeming in doubt.

"See?" Peppermint said.

"We can't force her to break her promise, Peppermint," I said.

"Hmph! Do whatever you want, but we've been wasting time talking," Peppermint said.

"Oh yes, you can find her in the basement if she's going to make a potion out of your friend," Glinda said. "The stairs leading there is to the left after entering the main door."

After thanking Glinda for her information, all of us entered the castle through the main door which was not locked. As told by Glinda, we turned left after entering and found a door which led to a downward staircase. There was little to no lighting there, so we could barely see anything. I then remembered my watch, and activated its flashlight function.

"Okay, step carefully," I said, leading the group. The trip downwards was quite long but soon we saw a glimpse of light. As we came closer, the light came from a small window placed on a door. I peeked through the window and saw the wicked witch concocting something in a boiling cauldron. Right next to her, I saw Strawberry lying unconscious on a pedestal not wearing her hat, which was hung on the wall nearby.

"What do you see?" Huck whispered to me.

"Is Strawberry safe?" Angel whispered.

"Strawberry is still safe for now, but I don't know for how long," I whispered back.

Suddenly, the door swung open and all of us were thrown into the room. We all fell on the floor.

"Peeping is not a good manner, kid," Gladys said, still mixing things in the cauldron with one hand while the other hand held her wand. "I suppose my meddling sister has released you from the dungeon."

"Yeah, and we came here to stop you!" Huck said, as all of us stood up.

"We're not gonna let you do this to Strawberry!" Angel said.

"She's our friend and we will do anything to protect her! Yep we sure will!" Ginger said.

"Yes, we will always be there whenever she needs help!" Orange said.

"You can say the same for me," Peppermint said.

"Apple Dumplin love Strawberry!" Apple said.

"Now release her or..." I said before Gladys interrupted.

"Or what? What can you do?" she challenged. It was true that we were no match for her because we couldn't use any magic like she could. Before long, she waved her wand, shooting green lightning at us. None of us could evade, and as the result all of us were petrified like what had happened to Glinda. I still could see and hear things, but I couldn't move any muscle. It seemed that the same applied to everyone else.

"Unlike the potion I gave to that monkey, my spell lasts for days!" Gladys said with wicked laugh. "But don't worry, as I have promised to your friend before, I will release you all after I'm done with her!"

None of us could do anything as Gladys continued to make the potion. Ten minutes later, she stopped mixing and looked at the still-unconscious Strawberry.

"It is time, my dear," Gladys said. "For you to be the last ingredient I need for the legendary Potion of Serenity!"

With a wave of her wand, Strawberry floated from the pedestal to above the cauldron. My thoughts were screaming, and I believed the same was happening to the others as well. Strawberry was in a grave danger and we were watching her, unable to do anything. Gladys then raised her wand high, and lowered it quickly.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" My thoughts screamed.

However, the thing that happened next was unforeseen by us. I believed everyone had been thinking that Gladys had wanted to put Strawberry into the boiling cauldron, but instead of that...

All of Strawberry's hair fell off from her head into the cauldron...

"Yes! The last ingredient! The hair of a redhead!" Gladys shouted in excitement. Then, with another wave of her wand, Gladys sent Strawberry back on the pedestal and all of us were back to our normal selves. "I'm done with your friend. Go get her."

"Strawberry!" Orange shouted, running towards Strawberry along with the rest of us.

"Is she okay?" Angel asked as I examined Strawberry.

"She's just asleep," I said.

"So now the redhead is no longer a redhead huh?" Ginger said.

"Seems so..." Huck said.

"Strawberry... no hair..." Apple said, then Strawberry woke up.

"Everyone! You're here!" Strawberry said.

"Yeah, we're here alright..." Peppermint said. "But your hair is not there."

"My hair?" Strawberry asked, rubbing her head. "Oh, so Gladys is done."

"You don't look surprised. You knew about that?" I asked.

"Yes, she told me that she only needed all of my hair," Strawberry replied, taking her hat from the wall and putting it on her head.

"And you agreed just like that? What a nice kid you are as always..." Peppermint said.

"Your hair will grow again, right?" Orange asked.

"Well..." Strawberry replied.

"Hey kids, instead of questioning her, just look at this!" Gladys interrupted, waving her wand to the wall on the other side of the room. Images of what had happened appeared there like a TV.

_Gladys entered the potion room, and Strawberry followed her still floating. Then, Gladys put the spell off from Strawberry and she stepped on the ground. Strawberry looked around the potion room which was as broad as her living room. There were shelves all around the room, all containing weird things which seemed to be potion ingredients. There was a cauldron at the center of the room and a stone pedestal next to it. The pedestal was large enough for a kid to lie down on it._

_"What do you want from me?" Strawberry asked, looking a little bit worried._

_"I need your hair. That is all," Gladys answered._

_"My... hair...?" Strawberry asked, putting her hand on her hair._

_"I want to make a potion, dear. Here, take a look," Glady's replied, taking a scroll from a shelf and giving it to Strawberry. "The last line."_

_Strawberry read through the scroll, which listed the ingredients needed for the potion. At the last line, it said, "All hair of a redhead."_

_"Oh... I see..." Strawberry said, giving the scroll back to Gladys. "I'm your redhead."_

_"Indeed," Gladys said. "By the way, you look tired, dear. You can get some sleep on that pedestal while I prepare the potion first."_

_"That stone?" Strawberry asked, looking at the pedestal._

_"It's not as hard as it seems," Gladys said, waving her wand to the pedestal, shooting a green lightning on it, which seemed to make the pedestal soft._

_"Will you let my friends go after you're done?" Strawberry asked as she walked towards the pedestal._

_"I will," Gladys said as Strawberry hung her hat on the wall and sat on the pedestal. "By the way, dear. I have to tell you that your hair will never grow back."_

_"It's fine, as long as you keep your promise," Strawberry said._

_"I always keep my words, dear," Gladys said._

_"Thank you berry much..." Strawberry said, and she fell asleep on the pedestal._

"No... your hair is gone forever?!" Huck said.

"You mean witch!" Orange said, angered.

There was a bucket of water next to the pedestal where we gathered, and without our knowing Peppermint took the bucket and threw all the water to Gladys. She was not looking so all the water hit her, wetting her whole body.

"Return Strawberry's hair!" Peppermint shouted with tears pouring from her eyes. "She's not the Strawberry I know and love without her hair!"

"Peppermint! No!" Strawberry said.

"Her hair, and everything else in her..." Peppermint said. "Means a lot to me, and to all of us!"

"Peppermint..." Angel said. Everyone else were surprised on Peppermint's reaction. I believed that most of us had been thinking that Peppermint was a stern, cold child. But what had just happened showed that she actually had a huge affection.

"Don't worry, Peppermint," Strawberry said, hugging Peppermint from behind. "I'm still what I have been before."

"ACHOO!" Gladys sneezed and trembling. "Look at what you have... ATCHOO! Done..." she said. It seemed that the water had made her caught a cold.

"Please forgive Peppermint," Strawberry said. "She..."

"Don't say anything more! ACHOO!" Gladys interrupted. "Just go away now. Leave me... ACHOO! Alone..."

We did as told by her, and left her alone in the potion room. On the way, Strawberry and Angel had to hold Peppermint's hands because she was still shocked by the fact that Strawberry had become bald forever. Soon, we were out from the castle and met Glinda who had been waiting for us.

"I see that you did it," Glinda said.

"Yeah, but we still have problems," I said.

"Strawberry has lost her hair forever," Orange said.

"That mean witch has completed her potion! I bet it is something dangerous, right everyone?" Ginger said.

"And, we can't get home," I said

"Hmm..." Glinda said, thinking. "Maybe you should meet The Great Wizard of Oz."

"Who is this wizard?" Angel asked.

"If someone can take you home, he can," Glinda replied.

"That would be great! Could you take us there?" I asked.

"Sure! Let's go right now, shall we?" Glinda said, and with a wave of her wand all of us disappeared in a flash of light.

-To be continued-


	38. Final Chapter, Part 3

Final Chapter Part 3: Homestay

Glinda used the same teleportation spell she had used to transport us from the dungeon to Gladys' castle. This time, when we regained vision we were on a hill and we saw a beautiful castle at a distance. The castle was green and shiny like an emerald, and the starry night sky along with the full moon at its background made the view even more beautiful.

"Wow..." I said, astonished.

"Berry beautiful..." Strawberry said.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Glinda said. "That's Emerald City, where The Wizard of Oz lives."

"I suppose this is as far as you can take us again?" Peppermint asked. She seemed to have recovered from her shock, although not completely.

"No," Glinda replied with a little giggle. "I thought you would love to see Emerald City from afar, so I took you here first."

"What a waste of time," Peppermint said. "But, it is sorta beautiful indeed."

"Okay, let's go meet the wizard," Glinda said, using the teleportation spell again. When we regained vision, we were right in front of the main door of the castle. Soon, the door slowly opened and all of us entered. In the throne room, we were welcomed by a large ball of fire floating right above the throne.

"Greetings, travelers!" The fireball said. "What do you want from me, The Wizard of Oz?"

"Wow, he's really great huh? I mean, there's a huge fireball there but it doesn't feel hot! Nope, not at all," Ginger said.

"Hmm..." I said, noticing something strange.

"Are you ever going to speak?" the fireball asked as I walked closer to it. "Hey, boy. Don't come any closer! I will turn you into a frog if you do!"

I ignored him anyway and examined the fireball figure. I then realized the truth.

"You're not a wizard," I said.

"What?! Are you questioning me?!" The fireball said, and suddenly it changed into a giant semi-transparent head. "I am The Wizard of Oz!"

I then replaced my glasses with Vision and looked around to find the truth. It was much easier than I had thought.

"You're sitting behind a screen next to my friends," I said, and the giant head looked surprised. "Everything we see is not magic. It's technology. This giant head and the fireball we saw are just holograms."

After I said those, the giant figure disappeared and someone came out from behind the screen I had mentioned. It was a man whose age was around the same as Purple Pie Man, but the man was rather short. His height was between me and Glinda and he was quite fat, although the dog catcher from Pearis was much fatter than this man. He had white hair and beard around his face and he wore scientist outfit.

"Alright, you got me," the man said. "My name is Henry. I am a scientist. I ended up here because of an accident with my latest invention, The Dimension Gate. It brought me to this Land of Oz and broke down by itself."

"What?! So the wizard is just a fake?!" Peppermint said.

"Glinda, I don't belive you have not been knowing about this," Huck said.

"If there's no wizard, then we can't go home..." Angel said, starting to look worried.

"Well, actually..." Glinda said. "I knew it since the beginning because we have been friends for some time. That's why I said he could."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Orange asked.

"I think I know," I said.

"What do you mean, huh Blackberry?" Ginger asked.

"He is a scientist, so both of us can work together to make something that will take us home," I said, walking towards the others.

"Well, could you inform me further? I don't understand much," Henry asked. I then told him the story of our trip with Albatross.

"I see..." Henry said.

"Maybe we will be able to make something that can take you home as well," I said.

"Don't worry about me. Let's take care of your problem first. For starter, I need to see your ship," Henry said.

"Well, I came here by Glinda's teleportation spell so I don't know where the remains of my ship is," I said.

"Glinda," Henry said, looking at Glinda. She seemed to understand and waved her wand. Green clouds came out and covered an area near the throne, and then with a flash of light the remains of Albatross appeared. "Seems very bad. Let's get to work."

"Okay," I said, and then both of us started examining the remains.

"I think we should leave them alone," Angel said.

Everyone there agreed, leaving me and Henry to work on my ship. Outside the castle, there was a conversation.

"By the way, shouldn't we be worried about Gladys? I mean, she has completed her potion, am I right?" Ginger said.

"It's okay. Potion of Serenity is not a dangerous potion," Glinda said.

"Then what is that potion used for?" Orange asked.

"Anyone who drinks a sip of the Potion of Serenity will be cured from any kind of illness," Glinda replied. "I think my sister is going to bottle the potion and sell it for an expensive price."

"What a mean witch, taking profit from such thing," Peppermint said. "And Strawberry lost all of her hair forever because of that."

"Don't worry about me, Peppermint," Strawberry said. "My hair might be gone forever, but my heart stays here forever," she continued, putting her hand on her chest. "That's all that matters."

"Okay... You're right as always..." Peppermint said lazily. "But seeing you without hair still sorta... scares me."

"Yeah, I feel the same too..." Angel said.

"Strawberry no hair..." Apple said. "Apple Dumplin' not like."

"Glinda, do you know anything we can do to make her hair grow back?" Orange asked.

"Hmm..." Glinda said, thinking. "I remember that there is a spell that can be used to grow hair..."

"Wow, really? Then use it on Strawberry right now, will ya huh Glinda?" Ginger said.

"It's not as easy as it sounds," Glinda said. "I have to get my spell book first. Wait here."

After saying those, Glinda waved her wand and disappeared. Right at that time, I came out from the castle to meet everyone else.

"Where's Glinda?" I asked, noticing that Glinda was not there with them.

"She went to get her spell book, am I right?" Ginger replied. "She knows a spell which will make Strawberry's hair grow again! Isn't it great, huh Blackberry?"

"That's good to hear!" I said.

"How's the ship?" Orange asked me.

"Well, I have to tell the truth..." I said with a pause. "It's very bad. Most parts are badly damaged, and to make things worse..."

"Can it be any worse than that?" Peppermint said.

"The technology in this place is limited. If I was at home with my tools I would need a week to repair Albatross," I said.

"How much time you're gonna need here?" Angel asked.

"I'm not sure. a Week, a month, a year, years, I have no idea," I said.

"Years? Are you saying that we are stranded here for years?" Peppermint said.

"I have no other choice. Both dimension door remotes are broken and the technology here is not enough to repair any of them," I said. "The only choice is to repair Albatross little by little with that limited technology."

"Our friends in Strawberryland will miss us..." Strawberry said.

There was a silence for a few seconds, and then suddenly Glinda came with her teleportation spell. She carried a rather large book which seemed like magic book.

"Hi, everyone," Glinda said. "Something happened while I was away?"

"We won't be able to go home for years..." Orange said, then I explained the situation to Glinda.

"Hey!" Ginger suddenly shouted. "We can go home!"

Everyone were surprised by Ginger's sudden speech. I myself wondered as well, but I was also prepared for the worst.

"You see, Glinda can teleport us easily from here to there and there and there, am I right? I bet she can teleport us to Strawberryland as well! Yep she sure can!" Ginger said with excitement, then everyone looked at Glinda.

"Well," Glinda said with a brief pause. "My teleportation spell can transport anyone across this planet. But..."

There was a huge cheer from every kids which interrupted Glinda's speech. They were so happy and relieved. However, I was not and Glinda seemed to know why.

"Hey, wait a minute everyone!" I shouted, and they stopped their cheers. "I'm sorry to say this but..."

"But what? Don't tell me it's another bad news?" Peppermint said.

"Unfortunately yes..." I said. "This is not our planet. Moreover, this might be not our world as well,"

"What? How can you say that?" Huck asked.

"Yeah, Blackberry. How do you know that?" Orange asked.

"The Limit in The Sky is not there," I replied. "Moreover, don't you feel weird that we met two look-alikes of someone we know already?"

"Limit in The Sky? What kind of nonsense is that?" Peppermint asked. I then had to explain everything about the force field which existed on our planet, which was the main reason I had to make Albatross able to jump over it.

"It was not there when we entered this planet," I said, ending my explanation. Everyone seemed not to believe yet.

"Well," Glinda said. "I don't understand much, but I know that you and your friends are indeed not from this planet."

"Really? How did you know?" I asked. I also could see the shock which had just come to everyone else.

"Well, Ginger said that your home is in Strawberryland, right?" she said, followed by everyone's nod. "I have studied over this planet, either by reading books or travelling with my teleportation spell. As the result, I know all places on this planet, and I don't remember any land named Strawberryland anywhere."

There was a huge sigh from everyone else besides me, followed by silence.

"Well," Glinda said, breaking the silence. "Do you still want me to grow Strawberry's hair back?"

"Oh yes, of course! We all still want that, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that..." Angel said.

"Please do that," Orange said.

"Alright," Glinda said, opening the book she carried. "But I have to warn you, Strawberry."

"What is it?" Strawberry asked.

"The spell my sister has used to take your hair from your head..." Glinda replied. "It left a magical remnant on your head which interferes with the spell I'm going to use on you, and it cannot be removed."

"What will happen then?" Huck asked.

"As the result, it becomes difficult for me to control the outcome of this hair growth spell," Glinda replied. "The chance of getting exactly the hair you have had is very low. You might end up with bad hairdo, or even bald spots. So, I want to ask if you are sure about this, Strawberry."

"Hey, can't you just try again if the result is bad?" Peppermint asked.

"That remnant grows stronger everytime a spell is used on it. Repeated attempts will just make it worse," Glinda replied.

Strawberry then seemed to be thinking for a little less than one minute, and then she spoke out her decision.

"Yes, please do," she said, taking her hat off from her head. Glinda then raised her wand with her right hand while her left hand was still holding the magic book and her eyes were on the book. She then moved her wand around in a certain pattern we didn't understand, while murmuring things we also didn't understand. Immediately, a purple lightning came out from the wand and hit Strawberry's head. That was the last thing I saw before everything were covered in bright light.

What I saw next surprised me very much. As had been told by Glinda, the result was not the same hair Strawberry has had, but the main thing that surprised me was the fact that Strawberry's new hair was long spiky maroon hair, just like the Strawberry I knew from Alternate Strawberryland. Soon, everyone were looking at Strawberry's new hair.

"This not Strawberry's hair," Angel said.

"Yeah, it's red and long," Orange said.

"Yeah, Strawberry's old hair was short and orange, am I right?" Ginger said.

"But still..." Huck said. "It still looks nice on her."

"Yeah, I sorta like this hair," Peppermint said.

"Apple like Strawberry new hair," Apple said.

"Berry nice! Thank you berry berry much, Glinda!" Strawberry said, putting her hat back on her head.

"You're welcome. I'm glad it came out good," Glinda said.

So, that night was concluded with Strawberry getting new hair. Because it was already over bedtime, Glinda offered the bedrooms of Emerald Castle and everyone agreed to accept the offer. The castle had quite a number of bedrooms for guests next to each other, and all of them had two beds. I didn't know who stayed with who at the other rooms, but I had Huck as my roommate.

"Hey, Huck," I said right after both of us lied down on bed.

"What?" he responded.

"Well..." I said with a pause. "Do you feel upset that we can't go home soon?"

"If you ask me..." he said. "Yeah, a little."

There was a brief silence.

"But I must say that this trip is a very exciting one. I don't and won't regret it," he continued.

"Huck..." I said. "I will fix Albatross soon. I promise."

"You don't have to promise anything. Just don't stress yourself," he said, and soon we went to sleep.

At the next day, with Glinda's help an unused warehouse at the back of the castle was transformed into a workshop. The tools available were quite primitive compared to what I had at home, but there was no other choice. I, along with Henry, had to fix Albatross using that limited technology, and I knew it would take a very long time. Just as I was going to start, Strawberry came to the workshop.

"Hi, Blackberry," she greeted.

"Oh, hi Strawberry," I replied.

"It's lunch time. Come with us!" Strawberry said.

"Lunch time already?" I said, looking at my watch. Indeed it was already lunch time. "Mr. Henry, would you come with us?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," Henry replied from behind Albatross. "I'll be there later."

Then, I went with Strawberry to Emerald Castle's dining room. Everyone else were already there sitting around a large table full of all kinds of fruits and berries I knew. Glinda was there as well. As soon as Strawberry and I took seats, everyone started having their lunch. At that moment, I noticed that the berries in Oz tasted somewhat different than the ones in Strawberryland. They felt kinda unnatural, but still tasted good so I decided to let it slide. Later, when we were done eating, Glinda waved her wand and all the remaining food on the table disappeared.

"They were created by magic...?" I thought. "That explains the unnatural taste."

"Okay, so what are we going to do now?" Huck said.

"Let's have a walk around Oz!" Strawberry said. "Isn't it berry exciting to explore new places?"

"You're right! Let's do that!" Angel said.

"I'll go too!" Orange said.

"I must admit that you're sorta right," Peppermint said. "Okay, I'll come with you."

"Hey hey hey, count me in, will ya?" Ginger said.

"Apple Dumplin' go!" Apple said, then everyone started to look at me. There was a brief silence until I spoke out.

"I'll get back to work," I said, getting up from the chair and starting to walk away.

"Wait Blackberry!" Strawberry said, and I stopped. "Come with us! The more the merrier!"

"Strawberry, you know that I have to work on fixing Albatross. I have no time for this," I said. "Don't you and everyone else want to go home, to Strawberryland?"

"Blackberry, it's true that we all want to go home..." Strawberry replied. "But we don't want you to stress yourself for us! What kind of friend will let you do that?"

"Yeah, Blackberry. I agree with Strawberry," Orange said.

"Me too! Everyone else feel the same, right?" Angel said, looking at everyone else, who immediately responded with a determined nod.

"Well, I have to tell Mr. Henry..." I said.

"It's all fine, son," Henry's voice was suddenly heard. Apparently he had been listening from the entrance. "I will take care of your ship."

So, the decision was soon made and all of us went outside the castle to walk around The Land of Oz. At first I hesitated because I still felt the need to fix Albatross quickly, but then I started to enjoy the small trip. I then learned to realize that while being able to return home soon was important, the most important thing was the togetherness between me and the friends I had. I then started to remember the days when I had been lonely and timid, and I was grateful that those days were just past memories that would not ever come again, because I had everyone with me.

-To be continued-


	39. Final Chapter, Part 4

Final Chapter Part 4: Future World

"Finally..." I said. "It's finished!"

"Yes, son. Your ship is now fixed and ready to fly again," Henry said.

"And at just the right time! Let's tell everyone about this good news," I said, going off to the main castle.

A few minutes later, I came back to the workshop followed by everyone else. A lot of time had passed, and everyone besides me looked different than how they had been when we had come to Oz four years before. It was then a normal sight for me, but I had been quite surprised at the day when Glinda had given everyone new clothes three years before. All of my friends ended up having the same clothing like the Alternate Strawberryland kids, and every girl had the idea of letting their hair to grow long so by the next few years everyone ended up having exactly the same looks as the Alternate Strawberryland kids. As for me, I had refused Glinda's offer because I had been so fond of my black and white shirt. So, Glinda had only put a spell on my clothing so it would grow as my body did. Quite a helpful gift if I might say.

"Is it really finished?" Angel asked.

"So, now we can finally go back to Strawberryland?" Orange asked.

"Yes, Albatross is finally fixed," I said. "But now that it's different, maybe I should rename it..."

"Heh, renaming as always," Peppermint said.

"But he's right! You see, that ship is totally completely different than the one we used to get here, am I right?" Ginger said.

"Apple Dumplin' is happy to see this," Apple said, strangely still using third person to mention herself, just like the Apple from Alternate Strawberryland.

"That's berry great, Blackberry!" Strawberry said. "So what's the new name?"

"Well, his first ship was Falcon, then Blackbird, and then Albatross..." Huck said. "I guess it will be another bird for the new name. Eagle maybe?"

"I changed my mind. No rename," I said. "This is our new Albatross."

"You're sorta a wishy washy kid huh?" Peppermint said. "Anyway, when will we go?"

"Anytime you wish," I replied.

"We should tell everyone else first," Angel said. "It's rude to go without saying goodbye first."

"You're berry right, Angel Cake," Strawberry said.

"Let's tell Glinda first," Orange said, walking away to see Glinda. Everyone else followed, leaving me and Henry in the workshop.

"Four years..." I said, staring at Albatross. "I wonder if our Strawberryland friends miss us."

"I believe they do, son," Henry said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Unlike me. I had nobody else in my world, so there aren't any people who miss me."

"Yeah, I remember you telling me that some time ago," I said.

"That's why I don't need to go home. In this world I have Glinda and many others with me," Henry said.

"It has been nice working with you, and soon we have to part ways," I said. "Time flies..."

"Yes, time flies, son. You're now as tall as me. I remember the first time we met, you only reached my shoulder," Henry said.

"Thank you for helping me in fixing my ship," I said. "And thank you... for being my father all this time."

"I have to thank you too," Henry said. "For being my son. Love you, son."

"Love you too, Dad," I said, and we had a hug.

I then followed everyone else to see Glinda. While on the way I looked around, trying to carve the scenery deep into my memories. I knew that soon I probably would not be able to see all those anymore, so I tried to enjoy it for the last time. A few minutes later, I arrived at the Emerald Castle's main hall, where everyone else had already been there along with Glinda.

"Hi, Blackberry," Glinda greeted as I approached. "I heard that your ship has been fixed."

"Yes," I replied.

"Congratulations. I'm happy for you," Glinda said, but she didn't sound so cheerful. I also noticed that her smile wasn't like her usual smile, it seemed forced.

"When we're gonna go home?" Angel asked. "I hope not right now. I still want to at least say goodbye to my friends here."

"Me too, actually," Orange said.

"And me three! I bet everyone else are the same, am I right?" Ginger said, and everyone else nodded.

"Then, I think you should go to your friends and give them proper farewell," Glinda said. "I would hate it if suddenly my good friends left without letting me know."

"Yeah, I agree with that," I said. "Even though Albatross is fixed, I still have to make sure it's fully prepared. We all can take our time."

So, everyone agreed that we would leave two days later, and then all except me left the Emerald Castle. During our stay in the Land of Oz, so many things had happened that it would take too long to tell them all. All I could say was that each of us, except me, had ended up becoming the leader of a region, although none had to actually lead. The people could take care of themselves, so each of the Strawberryland kids had preferred to be considered as a friend instead, and the people agreed to consider them as "Biggest Friend", which was quite true because compared to us, all residents of Oz were rather small with only a few exception.

After everyone else were far enough, I approached Glinda.

"Glinda..." I said. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing," Glinda replied, shaking her head.

"Really?" I asked, and she let out a sigh.

"Like always, I can't hide anything from you," she said. "You know, a lot of things have happened during your stay. Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Yes..." I said. "The night when we were locked in a dungeon by your sister."

"At that time, I considered you all merely as a bunch of victims I wanted to help, but after having all those experiences over these years, it started to grow on me," she said.

"I see..." I said.

"Now, all of you are my closest friends, and..." she said, pausing and starting to leak some tears. "...And now that you will go..."

"Don't say anything more," I interrupted. "It's not good for your throat. I can understand how you feel."

"Will you all come again sometime?" she asked.

"Don't worry, we will," I replied. "Once I get back home I will make a new dimension door device to travel here along with the others."

"Thank you, Blackberry," she said.

"Now if you pardon me, I'm going to walk around for the last time," I said.

So, the rest of the day and also the whole next day were spent walking around Emerald City. There was no camera or such so the only thing I could do was to carve everything into memory. A bit of guilt haunted me because even though I had said to Glinda about coming again, I was not sure if it was possible. Land of Oz was different than any other different worlds I had visited. I actually had once tried to fix my Time Remote II with Henry's help, and the repair had been a success. However, like what had happened before, the remote blew up after determining the destination to Strawberryland. It seemed that somehow multiverse travels was made impossible on this world, so the only way to go back home to Strawberryland was to repair and modify Albatross so it would be strong enough to fly through the Black Hole again. The modification had been the cause of the long time it had taken. If merely repairing Albatross had been enough, it would had only taken one year. In any case, Henry and I were sure that the new Albatross would be strong and durable enough to endure the trip through Black Hole.

The other Strawberryland kids returned to Emerald Castle at dinner time before the departure day. They said that all their people were unwilling to let them go, but in the end they had understood. Not much was said, and later all of us went to sleep.

At the next day, I was still asleep when Huck woke me up.

"Hey, Blackberry! Wake up!" he said.

"Huh? What is it...?" I said, slowly waking up but still half asleep.

"Look outside!" he replied, pointing at the window in my bedroom. I remembered that through the window I could see the courtyard of Emerald Castle. I then stood up from my bed, put my glasses on, walked to the window, and looked outside. To my surprise, the courtyard was crowded with numerous creatures I recognized as the inhabitants from various regions of Oz.

"What's with the crowd?" I asked.

"I don't know, I have no idea," Huck replied. "Glinda is already down there asking them about it."

"I hope this is not a bad thing," I said. Suddenly, Glinda appeared near us.

"Don't worry. There's nothing bad at all," she said.

"Then, what's happening outside?" Angel immediately asked as she came into my bedroom.

"Is it really nothing bad?" Orange asked, also as she came into the bedroom. The rest of Strawberryland kids followed her.

"Let's just go there and see for ourselves," Glinda said with a smile, and then she used her Mass Teleport spell to transport us to a large balcony overlooking the courtyard. As we appeared, the crowd below cheered loudly.

The view was a big surprise for us. The crowd below cheered for us, and we could see boards and banners carried among the crowd with writings like "We will miss you!", "We love you!", "Come back again someday!", and such. All of us waved our hand towards the crowd, and they cheered even louder than before.

"All people love you," Glinda said behind us. "I hope you will come back again someday."

"Don't worry, we will!" Strawberry said.

"Yeah, of course we will!" Angel said, and then we had a big hug with Glinda.

"Hey, look over there!" Huck suddenly said, pointing to the sky. All of us, including the crowd below, looked at the direction he had pointed. To everyone's surprise, it was Gladys coming to us riding her winged monkey. Soon, she landed a few meters from us. Still with her sour face like usual, she walked towards us. There was nothing but silence as that happened, and then she stopped right in front of me, who was the closest to her.

"So the news was true!" Gladys said. "That you are going!"

"That's right," I said.

"Heh, good news for me! No more meddling kids!" she said, followed by her wicked laugh.

"You came all the way here just to say that?!" Peppermint said, quite upset.

"Yes of course! What else?! This is the happiest moment in my whole life!" Gladys replied, followed by her laugh again.

"Hmph!" Peppermint muttered.

"Anyway, take this with you," Gladys said, materializing a small bottle filled with orange fluid on her right hand.

"What is that? Poison?" Angel said.

"I wish, but it's not," Gladys replied, giving the small bottle to me. "It's the last Potion of Serenity I have."

"What? The one you made years ago from Strawberry's hair?" Huck asked.

"What else?" Gladys replied. "Consider this a parting gift from me."

"...Thanks," I said.

"Don't get me wrong! After you go I will start spreading terror again over this land, and none of you will be there to stop me!" Gladys said as she jumped on her winged monkey and flew away with her wicked laugh.

"Is this land going to be okay?" Orange wondered, staring at the sky.

"Don't worry," Glinda said. "She said all those out of pride, but I can assume that she will probably be the one who miss you the most. She has changed for the better, and it was thanks to all of you."

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go..." Strawberry said. "Goodbye, Glinda."

"Goodbye all, have a safe trip," Glinda said, and then I called Albatross using a remote, just like how I usually did with Falcon. Immediately, Albatross came to us and floated right in front of the balcony's railing, waiting for us to come in. With proper farewell, all of us rode into Albatross and soon I piloted it to fly away. However, I piloted it towards the workshop behind the Emerald Castle first. As expected, Henry was at the workshop's rooftop looking at us and waving his hand. We did the same to him even though he probably didn't see it.

"Alright, let's fly back to our home," I said. "Are you ready?"

"Ready!" everyone answered, and with full speed ahead I piloted Albatross towards the space, and then towards the White Hole where we had come out from. Soon, the White Hole was in sight.

"Here comes the rough ride. Everyone ready? Seatbelts fastened?" I asked.

"Do you really have to ask us again? We're completely ready now, right everyone?" Peppermint said, and everyone else agreed.

"Okay, here we go!" I said, starting to pilot Albatross into the White Hole. We entered the White Hole safely and soon we were once again flying through the unknown space. The engine was still running perfectly so I could safely say that Albatross resisted the disable successfully. Finding the way out from the unknown space was easier than I had thought, thanks to Henry's advice. All I needed to do was to find any force pushing Albatross towards a certain direction, and then go against it. The new Albatross was so strong that the force felt like nothing significant, and soon without our knowing we were already back to space with Black Hole behind us and our planet in sight.

"We did it. That's our planet," I said, and everyone else cheered.

I then piloted Albatross towards Strawberryland. As we came closer to the atmosphere, the limit in the sky pushed Albatross down. But like Black Hole, it was nothing significant. Without any trouble, a few minutes later Albatross landed safely on the outfield of Strawberryland.

"Welcome home everyone," I said, opening Albatross' hatch. Everyone immediately jumped out with excitement.

"Whoa, look at that! The trees, the mountains, the stones and rocks, it's really our Strawberryland for real, right everyone?!" Ginger said.

"We're home again," Angel said.

"I can't wait to meet everyone else! It has been berry long!" Strawberry said.

"I wonder how my fort will look like after all these years... Huh?" Huck said, seemed to notice something.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Umm... nothing. For a second, you looked a bit transparent. Maybe it was just my imagination," he replied. I then looked around my body and found nothing wrong.

"Yeah, maybe," I said, then I noticed someone coming from afar. "Hey, someone's coming."

All of us looked towards the person. Soon, the person noticed us and approached us riding a skateboard. It turned out that the person was a girl around our age none of us had ever seen before. She had pink hair with its style similar to the younger Peppermint, although slightly longer. She wore what seemed like purple sweater along with unbuttoned orange shirt on top of the sweater. Unlike any other Strawberryland kids I knew, the girl wore orange shorts so we also could see that she wore orange and purple socks, and purple and white shoes. Because she wore skateboarding safety equipment including the helmet, we didn't know if she usually wore a hat or not.

"Hi!" The girl greeted us, stopping her skateboard easily with style. "I have never seen any of you! Are you new? I like meeting new friends!"

"Yeah... sorta..." I said.

"Nice to meet you!" the girl said with excitement. "My name is Purple Peach Streusel Pie, but you can call me Peach Streusel!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm..." Strawberry said, but there was an interruption.

"PEACH!" we heard a girl yelling and looked towards the source. We saw another girl, slightly older than Apple, we had never seen before. The girl had blonde short hair decorated with a mango-shaped hair ornament as the center of a pink and white bow, yellow T-shirt with a green horizontal line on the stomach, maroon trousers, and orange shoes. She also wore a bracelet with mango-shaped ornament on it. Also, she had a mole under her eye which reminded us about Sour Grapes. As she came close to us, she stopped and panted.

"What happened, Mango?" Peach asked the girl, and from there we noticed that the other girl's name was Mango.

"Jack..." Mango replied, still panting. "He fainted, and now he has a high fever!"

"What?! Where is he now?" Peach asked, seemed surprised.

"Near the river. Persimmons is with him now, but we have no idea what to do!" Mango replied in panic.

"Calm down! I'm going to call Mom and Dad! Watch him in the meantime!" Peach said, rushing away. We were quite surprised hearing her mentioning "Mom" and "Dad".

"Hey," I said to Mango, who was still there. "Take us to him. We might be able to help."

Immediately, all of us walked along with Mango. We didn't run because Mango was already too exhausted to run. There was a conversation on the way.

"By the way, who are Jack and Persimmons," I asked. "We're sorta... new."

"Jack is my brother and Persimmons is my twin sister," Mango replied. "Peach is also my sister."

"As sisters, you and Peach don't look similar," I commented.

"Peach and Jack are adopted by our parents. Only I and Persimmons were born from our mother," Mango replied. I then intended to ask about the existence of parents for them, but something inside told me not to, so I cancelled it. Soon, we arrived at the river I remembered as the place where Huck had given me the idea about jumping over obstacles. Under a nearby tree, we saw a fainted boy lying down and a girl kneeling next to him. The boy, who was around the twin sisters' age, wore green shoes, green trousers, green jacket, green scarf, and green hat over his black hair. The girl wore purple shoes, beige trousers, purple shirt with similar patterns like Mango's, but the line on the stomach was orange and the shirt had long sleeves. There was also a persimmons-shaped badge placed on her left chest. She had long purple hair and she wore an orange hat with persimmons ornament on it as the center of a bow.

"Sis, where are Mom and Dad?!" the girl asked.

"Peach is going for them," Mango replied. "How is Jack?"

"Not good. His fever isn't going any better..." the girl replied. "Who are they by the way?"

"Peach was with them when I met her," Mango said.

"This is not a right time for introduction, but I'm Persimmons, Mango's twin sister, and this is Jackfruit Jam, our brother," Persimmons said.

"Yeah, this is not the right time," I said, kneeling next to Jack. "Can you hear me, Jack?"

There was a weak nod, which meant that he was no longer fainted but still too weak to get up. I touched his forehead with my hand, and indeed he had a very high fever.

"What should I do? I have no idea..." Persimmons said, leaking tears.

"He will make it, sis!" Mango said. "We must believe in him!"

"But... I don't know..." Persimmons said, still in tears.

"Give him this. It will help," I said, taking Potion of Serenity from my shirt pocket.

"Oh, the legendary potion!" Orange said.

"What is that?" Mango asked.

"This is a parting gift I got from my... friend," I said. "This potion is said to be capable of curing any illness."

"Really? Please give it to him right away!" Persimmons said.

"Wait, Persimmons!" Mango said. "That potion sounds... too good to be true."

"Then what should we do? Just waiting, doing nothing?!" Persimmons said.

"No, but..." Mango said, starting to look confused and then she looked at me. "Can I trust you?"

"What will I gain for lying?" I asked back.

"Please, this is much worse than any others ever happened to him. He might not make it this time!" Persimmons said. There was a brief silence until Mango gave a weak nod.

"Alright," I said, looking at Jack again. "Listen to me, Jack. I'm going to give you a potion. Open your mouth, and then swallow it after I put it into your mouth. Do you understand?"

Jack replied with a weak nod, and then he opened his mouth. I then poured the whole bottle of potion into his mouth, which I soon closed with my hand. Then, I lifted his neck with my other hand while Persimmons kept his head straight up.

"Swallow it now," I said, and he did as I had told him. Then, I put him down into lying position again. Soon, his body radiated orange aura which faded a few seconds later. As soon as the aura disappeared, he opened his eyes wide and got up into sitting position.

"Are you alright now?" I asked.

"Yeah, it feels like the fever was just a dream," Jack replied.

"Oh, Jack! I'm so glad! I was so worried about you!" Persimmons said, hugging Jack. Mango also followed.

"There goes my parting gift," I said, looking at the empty small bottle.

"You have no idea how grateful we are!" Persimmons said to me. "Friends and families are everything for us, and we don't know what to do without each other."

"No problem," I said.

"By the way, we still don't know your names," Mango said.

"I'm Blackberry Bun," I said.

"I'm Strawberry Shortcake!" Strawberry said.

"Apple Dumplin' is Strawberry's sister," Apple said.

"Angel Cake," Angel said.

"My name is Orange Blossom," Orange said.

"Peppermint Fizz is me," Peppermint said.

"Huckleberry Pie," Huck said.

"Ginger Snap! Like in snap!" Ginger said, snapping her finger. However, as we mentioned our names, the face expression of the trio changed from happiness into confusion.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

"The Berry Princess...?" Mango said, which confused us.

"Ah, Mom and Dad are here!" Jack said, looking towards a direction. We looked towards the direction and saw Peach, no longer in her skateboarding equipment, running to us. We were very surprised looking at one of the two adults who ran alongside Peach. Their mother was Sour Grapes. Their father was a rather fat man wearing blue shoes, blue trousers, blue shirt with pictures of clouds and stars on it, and what looked like a sleeping hat. The trio started running to their sister and parents as their response, while we stood still.

"My dear, are you alright?" Sour Grapes said, hugging Jack.

"I'm fine now, Mom. They helped me," Jack said.

"Who?" Sour Grapes asked.

"They are there," Jack replied, looking at us. Sour Grapes then looked at us and she immediately looked surprised.

"That can't be...!" she said, approaching us. When she got close to us, she looked at us one by one. "Why are you all little again?"

"Little again...?" Angel asked.

"We have been away for years. We have no idea about what you said," Orange said.

"Hmm..." Sour Grapes said, thinking. "Come to our house, dears. I sense long storytelling coming."

We then followed the family walking through the outfield of Strawberryland. On the way, we came across Huck's fort which seemed abandoned looking at the huckleberry vines all over them. Not much was said about it, and we kept walking. I then noticed that we were walking into the wood between my house and Huck's fort. I remembered the wood being creepy and scary with all the dead trees there, but as I looked around I noticed that the wood had become much more alive than I remembered. Soon, we arrived at a large log cabin built in the middle of the wood.

"Now go inside, dears. I will stay outside with our guests," Sour Grapes said to her kids.

"Okay, Mom," Peach said, and all of them went inside followed by their father.

There was a wooden bench put in front of the cabin. Sour Grapes sat in the middle of it while two of us, Strawberry and Apple to be exact, sat next to her. The rest of us had to sit on the ground in half-circle in front of the bench.

"So, could you tell us anything, Sour Grapes?" I asked.

"I have left that name, dear. Now my name is Stella Grapes," she answered.

"Oh, then could you tell us more about yourself?" Orange asked.

"I'm now married, dear. And I gave birth to Mango Jubilee and Persimmons six years ago," Stella Grapes said. "I also adopted two kids, Peach Streusel and Jackfruit Jam."

"You said about us being little again. What did you mean?" Strawberry asked.

"I have no idea about what happened to you, but all of you are supposed to be already mature by now," Stella Grapes said.

"Us? Mature?" Angel asked.

"I want to tell you further, but something inside tells me not to," Stella Grapes said. "I'm sorry."

"Hmm... do you have a calendar I can see please?" I asked.

"Honey, could you bring a calendar here?!" Stella Grapes shouted to the cabin, and soon her husband came out bringing a table calendar. "Thank you, honey."

"Anytime, honey," her husband said, and he went inside. I looked at the calendar and got quite surprised.

"Just as I thought. We ended up seven years ahead of our supposed timeline," I said.

"Seven years?" the other kids said, surprised.

"We should be around 18 years old by now, except Apple. I think she's close to Peach's age," I said.

"That is correct, Apple Dumplin' is one of Peach's best friends," Stella Grapes said.

"Thank you for the information. I guess we have to go now, to our correct timeline," I said, standing up and calling Albatross, which soon landed nearby.

"Have a safe trip, dears," Stella Grapes said as we rode into Albatross.

"So, how are we going to go seven years back, huh Blackberry?" Ginger asked as I closed the canopy.

"Yeah, Blackberry. How?" Orange asked.

"Don't worry about that. Albatross can't do multiverse travels, but it can do time travels. It will be a rough ride, though, so buckle up," I said.

Soon, I piloted Albatross to the sky and activated its time travel function. With a flash of light, Albatross immediately disappeared without a trace.

-To be continued-


	40. The End

Final Chapter Part 5: The End

Like how it had disappeared, Albatross reappeared with a flash of light. Below, I could see that we were flying above the wood between my house and Huck's fort, and the wood had become creepy and scary like how I remembered, which meant that we had arrived in the past, or maybe I should say the present. I then piloted Albatross to land on the outfield of Strawberryland. Coincidentally, two friends we knew were walking there when we arrived. They were Blueberry and Rainbow, and they remained unchanged although noticeably taller.

"Alright, welcome to the present," I said. Opening the hatch. "We have been missing for four years, so prepare for a reunion."

All of us then jumped out from Albatross, and as expected, the two girls looked at us in disbelief.

"Strawberry Shortcake...?" Blueberry asked.

"Is that really you...?" Rainbow asked.

"Why yes, it's me!" Strawberry said. "Have I been missing for so long?"

"Long? Four years is absoloo-tely long!" Blueberry said, jumping to Strawberry to hug her.

"You sure have changed, mateys," Rainbow said, looking at Strawberry and the others.

"Yep, a lot of things have happened and I bet we all can't wait to tell everyone about it, am I right?" Ginger said. "Let's call everyone to the clubhouse for a huge big reunion party, shall we, huh everyone?"

"That's a nice idea!" Angel said.

"Yeah, I agree with that," Orange said.

"Well, why not?" Peppermint said.

"Apple Dumplin' likes to tell stories!" Apple said.

"I'll park Albatross at my home first then," I said. "I'll meet you later."

"Okay, see you later," Huck said as I rode into Albatross and flew away.

"Well, maybe you can start telling us some stories while walking?" Rainbow asked as the group started to walk towards the clubhouse.

"Well, it all started when he... Wait, what is his name?" Angel said.

"He? He who?" Orange asked.

"So silly of you, of course he's... Wait! I can't remember too," Peppermint said.

"That's strange. I remember being away for six years along with you all," Strawberry said. "But I can't remember that one friend of us who just left."

"One friend of us? Hey, only seven of us have been away. Nobody else," Huck said.

"Oh yeah, you're right! Why all of us have been imagining an imaginary friend, huh?" Ginger said.

"Then could you tell us a bit about where you have been going?" Blueberry asked.

"Well, we have been staying in a place called The Land of Oz," Strawberry said as the group kept walking.

Meanwhile, I arrived at my home to park Albatross next to Falcon and Blackbird. I landed it successfully and jumped out from it. However, soon I noticed something strange on me. My hands had become semi-transparent and a slight distortion happened every few seconds. Wondering about what was happening, I went inside my home and checked the Time Monitor.

"Okay, let's see..." I said as I started the device. A few minutes later, I learned something quite surprising. Our trip through the Black Hole twice, along with the recent time travel, has created an interference within the flow of time. As the result, time travels in certain timelines had been disabled.

"Hmm, that still doesn't explain the thing happening to me... Wait!" I said, realizing something horrible. I then checked the Time Monitor once more and soon I learned that my fear was true. Out of all timelines, one of the timelines where time travels are disabled was the one where I had healed my past self from a fatal wound. If that time travel had never happened, that meant nobody had ever come to heal me. If nobody had ever come to heal me, that meant...

"That time... I..." I said in disbelief. "...Died?"

Right after saying that word, My whole body started to fade away with sparkles floating from it. The same thing happened to my whole house, and it continued until everything disappeared without a trace.

_So... That's it_  
_I was meant to die at that time _  
_I was never meant to meet anyone _  
_Nobody was ever meant to meet me _  
_I was never meant to exist among them_

_I drifted in a dark space _  
_With nothing but darkness _  
_But then..._  
_I saw light..._  
_A bright light..._  
_And it started to speak to me_

"Greetings, My son."

_Who are you?_

"I am what people call as The Creator."

_The Creator...?_

"Yes, My son. I created the world, and also many other worlds along with the life on them."

_Strawberryland too...?_

"Your world is just one of many worlds I have created, My son. Although I must say that your world is more special than most others."

_Special...?_

"In most other worlds, at first I created only a few pairs of people, some only one pair, and let them multiply and develop the world by themselves."

_I see.._

"However, many of the people in your world are created by My Own hands without a pair. Also, to halt their multiplication I created most of them as female."

_That explains why boys and men are scarce..._

"That's right, My son. However, I also made them to be much more self-sufficient."

_Including... my friends?_

"Yes, My son. I created them Myself. One day, I wanted your friend Strawberry to have a little sister so I created Apple and put the knowledge of it inside her head."

_That explains everything about Apple, and also why we don't have parents. Could you also tell me why I still remember about everything that happened recently, even though I was supposed to die long before?_

"The flow of time is a complicated matter, My son. Different things can happen as the consequence of one disturbance to the flow of time. In your case this time, your existence will not be remembered by anyone, but your own memories and deeds on them will remain."

_My deeds?_

"Yes, My son. The garden you have helped to grow for them, the lives you have saved at the cost of injuring your hands, the costumes you have duplicated for your friend, everything will remain but nobody will remember who has done them."

_...It's now clear to me. Thank you. But what will happen to me now?_

"Come with me, My son. I will take you to another world, where you will start your new life. It will be hard, but I believe you will get through the obstacles and live a happy life, until the time we meet again."

_Thank you..._

So, I started a new life in a new world. At first I had no memory at all about my previous life, but recently the memories started to come back to me one by one and I decided to write a journal about it. I'm not sure if I was accurate in writing all parts, but at least I tried. Like what The Creator had said, the new world is much more difficult to live on. I no longer have the ability to invent devices, things are harder to gain and easier to lose, everyday is a hard work, and many other things. However, in this new world I have my parents who love me and whom I love in return, and also a brother to love and take care of. Not to mention the friends I have around me. I will live a happy life, and I know I can make that happen.

By the way, in this new world, my name is no longer Blackberry Bun. Now my name is... Sandy.

-The End-


End file.
